


See Me For Me~

by MA_XT



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bodyswap, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten is a Little Shit, Comedy, F/M, Fluff, Idols, Language Barrier, Soft Kim Jungwoo (NCT)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MA_XT/pseuds/MA_XT
Summary: All she did was listen to dream in a dream, something normal and regular. So why on earth was everything suddenly abnormal, and why was she in an idols body?!
Relationships: Kim Jungwoo (NCT)/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	1. You

**Author's Note:**

> Italics during speech is Korean and Bold during speech is Mandarin. 
> 
> Also, about the weird sleeping arrangements in the first chapter. I wrote that before the wayv dorm and nct 2020 was announced so sorry for any odd inconsistencies there !

The words on the pages seemed to be swimming together, a yawn escaping her lips as she rubbed at her eyes, mind and soul aching with the prospect of having to do more revision. Every double sided sheet of design work and coding only further added another tally mark to the list of things that would cause her early death - really all she could do at this point was curse herself for the nonsense she had put herself through. No one had made her pick graphic design as her main subject.

She supposed that fact only added to her mild annoyance, nerves becoming frayed and shrivelling up like vampires to sunlight; honestly, she felt like she was going to become a blood sucking hermit with the rate she was going at.

'Do graphic design', she mocked herself as she scowled, resisting the almost feral urge to rip apart the papers that were teasing her sanity, 'it'll be an easy major and you like drawing. Don't worry about it.' 

With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes, massaging her temples for a few seconds and reopening them to look up at the computer screen in front of her. It had originally been turned off to prevent any distractions but, by now, almost 3 hours in, she was itching for one.

Her fingers tapped the wooden desk, drumming against the slightly worn and ink splattered surface - even looking at the stains felt more interesting. 

Another yawn parted her lips, the rush of air momentarily making her feel more alert, though the sensation soon faded and the dull ache in her upper back returned. 

Just then, as her eyes were beginning to droop against her better judgement, her phone lit up with a message. 

Imani: Girl wyd??

MC: Take a guess

Imani: Crying over ur work that you left till last minute 

Imani: I know you too well.

MC: just shut uppp

Imani: I know something to distract you

Imani: And don't say you don't need distractions bc yes you do.

She sighed, shaking her head at her friend, though she couldn't help but be thankful for the break. Surely, with even a minute more of revision, her head would have exploded and left behind only the remains of her failed knowledge and sorrow. Chewing on her lip, she decided to indulge her friend.

MC: pray tell.. what is this 'distraction' you speak of?

Imani: Well, my good Sir, tis but an exquisite film of the highest caliber

Imani: I don't know if any of that sentence made sense but yh..

MC: What video is it?

Imani: dream in a dream 

MC: ohh who's it by?

Imani: it's one of my kpop boys

Imani: guess who

MC: Give me a hint, u have a million of them

Imani: rude,,, he's small and cunty

MC: Kihyun?

Imani: valid guess actually

Imani: But no

Imani: he's from NCT

MC: Now you're just typing letters

Imani: sddhdhgfr shut up. It's Ten

MC: Cute name 

MC: I'll watch it now

Imani: Tell me what you think!!!

MC: Of course 

By now her computer had booted up and she couldn't have avoided her friend's request regardless, her fingers moving almost by their own accord as youtube was typed in, followed by 'dream in a dream'. The results were instant, a barrage of pink and purple nearly screaming in her face, her strained eyes having to squint to avoid possible blindness. Pressing on the first result, the soft music choice was soothing, a sigh leaving her lips as she rested her head on her palm.

The video was rather flowy, seeming (funnily enough) like something straight of a dream. The gentle yet sharp movements of the man in the middle felt like watching a pendulum move back and forth: interesting in its simplicity and somehow making her feel like she was in a trance. The smoke was hypnotising as it covered the screen and Ten, making everything blurry and almost surreal, her eyes closing without meaning to as his voice lulled her into unconsciousness, the dulcet notes leaving her susceptible to the almost siren like drawl.

And, ironically enough, the last line her conscious mind had clung happened to be 'I'm staying up'.

* * *

When she woke up again, it wasn't to the normal sounds of birds chirping outside of her window, or even the sounds of her poor computer being left on overnight, but to the sounds of low level, muffled laughter. Instantly, her heartbeat spiked, panic making her jolt up and jerk backwards, unable to feel her chair at her back. 

"What the f-" the sudden feeling of weightlessness overcame her, arms flailing and trying desperately to try and grab onto something. Nonetheless, that did about as much as one would have thought: exactly nothing. Air whooshed past her ears in slow motion before she collided with the ground, groaning as a dull pain erupted in her back. "Holy shit."

Sitting up, she rubbed her back, only now cracking open a single eye and seeing a completely unfamiliar surrounding. Maybe she was hallucinating, she reasoned, trying to come up with a rational explanation for the towering bunk bed in front of her. The more she stared at it, the more bed itself seemed to laugh and jeer at her, mocking her for being so confused. 'Haha,' said the sheets that had clearly been disturbed by her fall, 'loser, imagine not knowing where you are.'

"Why's everything blurry?" She muttered, squinting a little and giving up on trying to focus on anything else that wasn't directly next to her. Scratching her head, she got up, only to realise that her hair felt different. The strands felt short and the ends pricked her fingers, her bewilderment only increasing with each second that went past. Picking at her hair, she only just managed to look up at the strands when she heard giggling and a rather chipper male voice at her left.

" **Ten-ge? What are you doing? Doesn't your back hurt?** " The young man grinned, clearly amused, " **I think you hurt your head when you fell.** "

"What?" She stared at him with wide eyes, not understanding a word he said as well as being slightly frightened by his cheery demeanour. "Where the hell am I?" Standing up quickly and nearly stumbling over her feet, "and who the hell are you?!"

The man's expression moulded into one of confusion, his head tilted as some strands of his soft looking brown hair flopped over his eyes. " **Gege? Are you okay? Did you hit your head a little too hard or something?** "

Irritation and anxiety began to bubble in her gut, a scowl forming on her face at how he was looking at her like she was the unhinged one in this situation. The urge to tell him to wipe the grin off of his smiling visage was only a fatal slip of the tongue away. "I don't know what you're saying!" She exclaimed loudly enough that he looked a little shocked, dark brows furrowing at the yell and sudden increase in volume. "Just tell me where I am."

"Okay? Did you forget we're in Korea? **I know the flight was draining, but Gege this is a bit ridiculous,** " the second half of his words didn't register in her mind, instead his utterance of 'Korea' seemed to have made itself at home in her head, replaying over and over again like a broken record.

"Korea?" She repeated, voice quiet and rather feeble - sounding as though if she raised her voice, it would crack and shatter into a million pieces. "W-what do you mean 'Korea'?"

The man looked at her, his eyebrows knitted together, though sighed and spoke regardless of the visible perplexion on his visage. "You know? To perform? Gege, seriously, are you okay?" He got up, walking towards her and she stepped back. "Does your head hurt?"

"I... Who's gege?" His handsome face contorted, lips pulled into a straight line as he scratched his head.

"What?"

"What?" She returned, "Who's gege?"

" **Wow, you're really going for the joke, huh**?" He mumbled and she exhaled, already exhausted despite getting up only a few minutes ago. This entire situation was already messing with her head and the young man's stare wasn't making her oncoming headache much better. "You want to go to the bathroom?"

He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her, or even really wanted to be having this kind of conversation - though she remained weary, nodding slowly as he gestured for her to follow. Walking out of the room, she stayed a good few feet behind him as he led her down a corridor, the surroundings rather homely and nothing like she would expect if she were to have been kidnapped. "Here you go," He ushered her in and she closed the door quickly, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

For a good few seconds she stood near the door, trying to analyse the ridiculousness she had experienced within the span of a couple minutes. It felt like a terrible practical joke and she almost entertained the idea of Imani having something to do with it (despite this entire thing being far too elaborate and time consuming to bother with.)

'Maybe I'm just hallucinating shit,' she sighed, going to the sink and turning on the tap, the cool water collecting in her cupped palms, droplets seeping through her fingers before washing her face. While it did help her gain some sort of clarity, the action soothing more so than the water on her face, all the reassuring she had done went completely out of the window as she spotted herself in the mirror.

Except it wasn't 'herself', per say. More so the foreign face of a man that stared back at her, the tips of his fringe dripping with water and wide, brown eyes mirroring the shock she felt. All rational thought seemed to leave her at once and without a second thought, she opened her mouth and screamed.

The sound was piercing, carrying through the walls of the marbled bathroom and through the door where the other boy had been leaning against the wall, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie absentmindedly before the shriek made his hackles rise. Slamming the door open with his pulse raising, his heart in his mouth as he looked around for something that had gone wrong, only to see her staring at herself in the mirror with a horrified expression. 

"What's wrong? Why are you screaming?"He asked frantically, though his words seemed to drown out as a million thoughts began to rush through her mind, though the most clear one was 'who the fuck is this?'

"I- oh my god, this isn't me," She turned around, looking at him with eyes the size of golfballs, the genuine terror in her eyes making his stomach turn, somersaulting violently. "I don't know who this is, this isn't me! What's happening?" She stammered, continuing to stare at the mirrored image. Her eyes grazed over the gentle slope of his nose before looking over the symmetrical structure of his face and the barely noticeable nuances of his skin. By no means was the person in the mirror unattractive: it just wasn't her.

"What do you mean?" He reached out, trying to touch her shoulder, though she only jerked away, nearly tripping on the rug under her feet. "Gege?"

"This isn't my body, I don't know who this is," it was clear she was distressed, fingers clutching the smooth ceramic bowl of the sink, "please tell me this is a joke. Who is this?"

"Ten-ge?"

"Is that who this is?" She frowned, squinting harder at the reflection, "I don't know who Ten-ge is." She sounded like she was on the brink of laughter, or maybe tears; it was rather hard to tell.

"I seriously can't tell if you're joking," he spoke, exasperation clear in his tone.

Her head turned to him again, an expression resembling desperation on her features. "I'm not! I swear. I'm not this 'Ten-ge' person."

There was a silence, one that seemed to hang over both their heads and loom ominously over them like a cloud waiting to unleash torrents of rain before he sighed tiredly again, deciding to at least entertain this tasteless joke. "Okay. Who are you then?"

"(y/n)," She replied hurriedly, stepping back from the sink and wiping her wet hands on the grey pajama bottoms she had on. His expression twisted again and she knew he didn't believe her. "I swear I'm not messing around with you, I'm not Ten-ge."

He blinked once, twice and then a third time, running his hand through his hair and pushing it out of his face before letting his arm flop to his side again. "(y/n)? That's you?" only a fool would have doubted the sincerity with which she nodded, quickly and rapidly. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Kunhang. Do you want to get a towel?"

Unable to tell if he thought she was still playing around, she decided to nod and followed behind him again, taking the towel with a small mumble of 'thank you' and wiping her (his?) face. Now that she felt slightly more reassured, she took these couple of moments to look him over, finding that he was also rather good looking, his features warm and welcoming with bright, round eyes that seemed to reflect any and every source of light. 

"What are you performing in Korea?"

Seeming surprised at the random question, Kunhang turned his head, looking at his hyung who was also apparently not his hyung. "Black on black," he responded, though decided to elaborate upon seeing the blank look that stared back at him, "do you know of NCT?"

Very slowly, she nodded, remembering that Imani had mentioned them right before this fever dream had started. Right now, she was cursing herself for not bothering to learn more. "Not much..." something clicked and she gasped, "wait, is this Ten? The one who did uh, I think dream in a dream?" 

"Yeah, you know it?"

"I only watched it yesterday, right before-" she gestured to herself, "this."

Snorting slightly, he thought for a moment. "Do you know anything else about NCT?"

"No, sorry. I don't know anything else," her cheeks were puffed up, trying to think of anything else that could have come up, though she drew a blank, shrugging a moment later. "No, nothing. Are you an idol too?"

"Yeah, I'm part of the subunit Wayv," he didn't particularly feel like explaining NCT's concept (having already seen the 127 unit struggle continuously with it) and so decided that would be all he would say. "So, if you're not Ten. Then where is Ten?"

Well, I'd guess in my body? But, I don't understand why that would happen," Kunhang scratched his cheek, opting to not think too much about it - genuinely not knowing what to say or what to think. "You're doing performances? Black on black, is that a song?"

Nodding, Kunhang chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Yeah, it's a dance performance," he glanced at her again, "... are you really not Ten?"

Her eyes flickered towards him, staring into the soft mocha brown of his hues with an unnerving amount of intensity, making him swallow subconsciously as he fidgeted. "No. I'm not Ten."

"Okay," He spoke, fully believing her now, knowing that Ten would never drag a joke out for this long, especially without cracking or even laughing once at how Kunhang was falling for it. 'You're so gullible,' Ten would have said while laughing at him with little to no breath in his lungs, 'I can't believe I made you fall for it. I'm never letting you forget about it.' The fact that the 'Ten' in front of him hadn't laughed once; hadn't once stopped talking in english; hadn't made any moves towards poking fun at him, made it all the more believable. "I believe you."

Genuine surprise coloured her features, having fully expected to be convincing him for the next few hours at the least; she certainly wouldn't have believed someone so fast if she was in his shoes. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

Her shoulders slumped from relief, immensely thankful that she wouldn't be fighting another battle on top of her current one. 

"So wait," he spoke, "can you speak Korean?"

"Beyond a hello, no."

"Chinese?"

"I know how to say cat," He gave her a funny look.

"Say it?"

"Mao," Kunhang suddenly laughed out loud, "what? Is that wrong?"

"No, it's right, I just wasn't expecting you to know the word cat of all things," his lips formed a straight line, though they curled a little upwards at the corners, "well, you're lucky. Me, Yang, Mark and Johnny-hyung can speak english." 

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "Is it okay if we don't tell anyone? I don't want to accidentally mess with his reputation. It'll be easier to act normal if only we know."

Considering it for a moment, he realised that she was right and it probably would have been for the best if they both kept their mouth shut and pretended like they were playing an elaborate prank. If he didn't put too much thought into it, he could consider it a game of sorts. " **You don't really need to worry about ruining his reputation, he's already done that,** " he commented before giggling, "yeah, okay," he agreed, smiling at her, "we can do that."

Seeing his smile made her feel much better. maybe this entire ordeal wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

When Ten had first woken up, it was safe to say that he was freaked out. The sound of people's voices and a deep ache in his back startled him awake, making him jump up immediately as he realised he was sat on a chair and not the bunk bed he had fallen asleep in last night. He frowned, looking at the video that was playing on the monitor in front of him, a video about a random chinese drama that he assumed had been there due to autoplay and no actual interest. 

"What the fuck?" Ten muttered, getting up and stretching his aching muscles, only to catch a glimpse of his face in the screen of the phone next to him, "what the FUCK?!"

Grabbing it, he unlocked the device using his fingerprint (which he hadn't quite registered due to his panic) and headed right for the camera - only to get the biggest shock of his life when the face of a young woman greeted him. He looked over the soft curves and dips of her features, registering them in his head though not quite understanding why he was seeing this. 

"Oh my god," he muttered, setting the phone down and poking at his face, realising that he was the one that was controlling her body, almost like he was the puppeteer of a life size marionette. "This is so weird, am I dreaming?" It was worth a try, pinching at the thin area under his armpit and hissing when he felt the sharp pain. 

Okay, so he wasn't dreaming. But what now? What was he supposed to do in this kind of situation? He would have spent more time panicking had he not had the phone right next to him. Sitting back down on the chair, he took a deep inhale and took the phone again. Thankfully, it had most of its charge left and wouldn't die on him.

There was no reservations as he looked around her phone, trying to grasp a clue on who he (she) was and where on earth he actually was. Turning on the location and heading to google maps, he realised that he was hours away from Korea - where he had been only 40 winks ago. 

Looking through the pictures and notes on her phone, he realised that she was a student and had a part time job working as a waitress in a local diner. He clearly had no idea what he was supposed to do with that information, but it was something.

Just then, a message popped up on screen from someone named 'Imani'.

Imani: Oi fat hoe

Imani: You up yet?

MC: Uh yeah

Imani: You want a lift?

Imani: quick, reply in 2 mins or I'm leaving you 

MC: A lift to where?

Imani: To ur class? R u okay? 

Imani: I think u fried ur brain with all that studying yesterday

Imani: You have that test today

MC: Oh, okayy

MC: Yeah, pick me up please

Imani: Will do! Cya in 10 mins

Imani: I'll call when I'm outside

MC: Thank you

He looked at the paper in front of him and read the notes, realising that it was definitely extensive revision for a test; if he had to guess, it would be for a design course of some sort. This was definitely not anything that he was too well versed in. Getting up, he decided to at least change out of the clothes he was wearing, considering he didn't think the professors would be too pleased with him showing up in pajamas. 

It was a little awkward he had to admit, looking through this random person's wardrobe and picking out an outfit, though he did it quickly and washed up, managing to find keys and a timetable for her lessons before heading outside. 

As he waited, he scrolled through her social media, looking through her instagram and seeing pictures of her tagged with this Imani person who'd offered a lift. They were tall and dark skinned, smiling broadly as they stood next to her, two fingers behind her head and creating bunny ears while she was none the wiser to their antics. He noticed that they were both rather pretty, glowing in the evening sun and seeming happy and full of joy - something he couldn't say he felt right now. 

As he continued looking, the sound of a horn honking made him jump, looking up to see the person of the hour right there, peering at him through the window before rolling it down.

"Are you going to stand there? I wanted to see how long it would take for you to notice, but damn, you're just not looking," Imani laughed, giving him a teasing wave, "come on then, I know I'm hot, but you don't need to stand and stare." That prompted Ten to walk forward, opening up the passenger door and sitting down, smiling briefly at them. 

Imani gave him a quizzical look, though didn't comment on it. Instead letting him stare at the phone and humming along to the song on the radio, driving happily while bobbing their head to the music. 

Looking around her apps and then at her photos, he finally decided on calling his own number. Even if it was a kind of stupid plan, he had an inkling that she would have ended up in his body. He chewed lightly on his bottom lip, going to her contacts and trying to remember his number before calling it - only to realise that international calls wouldn't go through without charging her. Ten was desperate, but he wasn't going to make her pay for this.

Unable to think of another option, he decided to bite the bullet and ask Imani. "Hey, uh, I kinda need to make a call, but I can't make international ones. What should I do?" He didn't think they would mind him asking considering they both seemed close.

Imani hummed, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. "Not sure. Have you tried calling using that viber app? My aunties love calling me on that in the middle of the night."

Ten shook his head and immediately unlocked the phone again and went to the mentioned app. Going straight to type in his phone number, he held his breath as it dialled. It rang for almost 10 seconds, making him wonder if he should have ended the call and tried again before, thankfully, it did go through and someone had picked up.

" _Hello?_ " The person spoke and he realised that it wasn't his own voice replying, but a deeper, more stern one that he recognised as Yuta. " _Who is this?_ "

His brain went completely blank, unable to think of anything quickly and instead going with the first stupid idea that came to mind. " _Uh, I'm his girlfriend._ " There was a pause and he cringed immediately as his words caught up to him, internally beating himself up for saying something like that. Of course Yuta wasn't going to believe that. 

He could only blame himself when Yuta's annoyed tone spoke up again. " _Don't call this number again or I'll take legal action._ "

" _Wait, Hy-_ " the call ended and he huffed, staring at the screen and the ended call that taunted him. 

As he flopped back into the seat, a pout on his lips, he turned to fix his seatbelt when he realised Imani was already looking at him with furrowed brows. "Since when could you speak Korean?" 

'Shit,' he wanted to scream at himself for making that silly mistake, frantically trying to think of an excuse that wasn't as crappy as the one he'd just give Yuta. "I've been practicing," he said simply, hoping the lie wasn't too obvious. 

They simply nodded, clearly not thinking too much into it and he appreciated that greatly. "Do you happen to know my attendance?" 

"I think it's, like, 98? Why? Planning on skipping?" They teased, "I wouldn't do that if I was you considering the test is worth 45%."

"Fuck, can't I do it later?" Imani shrugged. 

"I don't know. Fake an injury, give us some Oscar worthy tears and maybe your prof will think you're crazy and let you take it another day, but that's up to you," despite Imani clearly being sarcastic, he couldn't help but take it a little seriously. Maybe he wouldn't be screaming and crying in pain, though he certainly didn't want to fail her test and potentially make her fail the entire course. 

Ten had to cook up a scheme somehow. "Okay, I'll do that," he nodded matter-of-factly, making Imani laugh out loud. 

"Girl, I think you hit your head when you fell asleep," They tutted before pulling into a car park, practically racing into a free spot and parking. "I'll see you after your test, yeah? Tell me how it goes."

They began to walk away, making him panic as he spotted the absolutely humongous campus that leered at him. "Wait!" They turned around, "uh, can you walk me to class, please? I'm a little nervous." 

Their smile was warm, nodding in understanding. "Sure," patting her shoulder, they pinched his cheek, "don't worry, you've got this. You've been studying this all week, you'll do fine, stop stressing yourself out."

Easily able to see why they were friends, he thanked them quietly, using the walk to the class to try and think of a cover story to get out of doing this exam and potentially messing it up. 

All too soon, he arrived at the door, inhaling as he walked in and finding an empty seat since there didn't seem to be any seating plan. 

Seconds seemed to go by at snail pace, his mind blank as he stared at the screen of the computer in front of it - a vague sense of deja vu hitting him. Everyone else around him was getting on and he felt like the black sheep.

Ten waited a few minutes, assessing the classroom and seeing the professor sat at the front. 

He was an older looking man, likely around late 40's with mildly greying hair. Just by looking at him, he gave off the impression of a firm but understanding teacher - or at least, Ten hoped he was. If he could just create a story and leave, he would get out of it scott free. 

Time ticked by and he tried to think of an excuse before finally coming up with one. 

Willing his eyes to fill up, he began sniffling. This earned a few glances here and there from the student, though he was clearly used to attention being on him and remained unphased. 

Once he was pleased with the amount of tears in his eyes and sure that he had perfected his look of complete despair, he got up, trying to avoid catching the eyes of other students - if only for the sake of saving her reputation from complete ruin. 

Standing next to the professor's desk, the man looked up, and upon seeing his tearful face, did a complete double take. "Is something the matter?" He asked quietly, concern in his eyes that made Ten feel a little guilty for playing him, "come, let's go outside."

Following him outside, he wiped at his eyes, looking down at the floor. "Come now, you don't need to be upset over this exam. You're an excellent student and you'll do well," Ten nodded, thinking about how this person must have been rather studious to make such a good impression.

"Thank you, but that's not the reason, Sir," he inhaled, thinking of how to bring across the story without blowing his own cover, "I don't think I'm in the right mindset to be doing this exam, Sir. My-My boyfriend got into a serious accident only yesterday and I've been too worried to focus on this exam. I don't think that if I did the test now, that it would reflect what I can fully do." He paused to wipe his eyes for a little more dramatic flair. 

To the professor's credit, he seemed incredibly sympathetic, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "I understand, I'm sorry," he glanced up, sniffling and finding a clean tissue in his pocket to wipe his eyes with. "I shouldn't be doing this, but I will allow you to do the exam on a later date. I know that you're a bright pupil and I don't want your grades to go down because of something you can't control. Is that okay?"

'Fuck yeah, that's brilliant!' he thought, he could get out of it and she wouldn't suffer academically. "I appreciate that so much, thank you," he almost bowed before he stopped himself, playing it off as him rolling his shoulders, "I just- I never expected this."

"I don't think most people would," The professor spoke, giving him a reassuring smile, "just don't tell the others, alright? I don't want to be accused of favouritism, though you're the closest one to a favourite I have."

He nodded, trying his hardest to conceal his grin; she'd unknowingly made his job easier. "I won't, I promise."

"That's fine then, if you want you, I can dismiss you now so you can go to your boyfriend. I'll send you an email with another date you can take it on, is that alright?"

"More than alright, thank you so much," he had never moved so fast in his life, practically running out of the building as soon as the professor had gone back inside

Wandering around, he was looking around for someplace to sit so he could try calling his number again, eventually finding a bench under a large tree that gave him both shade and a feeling of serenity. 

Taking a few moments to look around, he noticed that the campus was actually rather beautiful, with the building high rise and modern, stained glass reflecting the pools of sunlight and making them glimmer. The grassy areas were also wide and plentiful, lines with bushes of different flowers and plants that created the aura of being in a botanical garden. Ten could have easily seen himself attending a place like this had he not chosen the idol life. 

As he went to call again, he realised that her number had been blocked, more than likely by Yuta. Cursing under his breath, he thought about what he could do before he noticed the sound of footsteps heading in his direction. 

Looking back up, it was Imani that was walking towards him, a sour expression on their face as they sat next to him. "They fucking cancelled the class and didn't even bother to tell me. Idiots."

"Ouch," he replied, "that's annoying."

"Right?" They sighed, leaning against the back of the bench before looking at him, "how come you're out? You actually faked an injury or something? You're literally insane." 

He laughed out loud, shaking his head and looking ahead at the empty yard. "No, I got out of it with an excuse. I'll take it another day." Imani sat up straight again, noticing that the screen was on the number he'd called. 

"They're not picking up?" Ten shook his head.

"I got blocked."

"That's a sticky one," they sighed, "is it an ex? You know better than that. Fuck your stupid ex's, don't bother with them," patting his thigh, Ten couldn't help but be a little amused, though he knew Imani meant it genuinely. "I know you don't like talking about that kind of thing, but I'll always listen. And beat them up too," Ten laughed out loud, shaking his head.

For a few moments he was quiet, thinking about what he could do. Clearly Imani did care about her and seemed trustworthy enough. If he was going to get anywhere with this situation, he needed at least one person to understand or at least confide in. And it was seeming more and more obvious that the most suitable person was them. 

'Fuck it,' he thought, 'it's them or no one.'

Inhaling deeply, he let out a tired exhale. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course," they replied, squeezing his leg and showing genuine concern. "What's up?"

"I'm not (y/n), I'm actually Ten," Imani tilted their head, dark brows furrowed a little in confusion. 

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"My name's Ten."

They blinked, looking at him for a moment before leaning back against the bench. "Oh? Is that you wanting me to use male pronouns for you? I can do that." Ten had to smile, the corners of his lips curled upwards as he shook his head. 

"No, no, it's not that. I didn't mean it like that, I mean that I'm Ten, from NCT. I somehow swapped bodies with her and I don't know what I'm doing or how it happened," Imani stared at him, clearly not knowing what to think. "I know it sounds really stupid and like a huge joke, but I swear I'm telling the truth."

"Are you serious? Is that why you've been acting weird?" Ten smiled sheepishly; clearly he hadn't done a very good job with trying to act like her. "Stop joking around, you're not funny," Imani shoved at his side, but moved their hand away when he didn't smile. "How could you be Ten?"

Ten shrugged, pursing his lips as he stared at the phone before slouching a little and fiddling with the phone case. "I just woke up in front of her computer. I can prove I'm Ten, ask me something that she or I wouldn't know."

They thought for a moment before finally deciding on a few things. "What's the name of the boy you had a crush on when you were 11?" Ten shrugged, having no clue.

"Uh… David?" He attempted poorly and Imani snorted, laughing out loud. 

"Okay, that's definitely wrong," Ten tilted his head and they elaborated, "she liked a girl called Maya. But you could just be pretending because you like chatting shit sometimes. Tell me all the members of NCT and 3 title tracks, she has no idea about any of them."

"Okay, that's easy enough," Ten began listing all of the names easily and picked three title tracks, "Regular, Firetruck and Touch. Is that good enough?" Imani gaped at him, clearly still a little hesitant to believe him, but a little more welcoming to the idea (as outlandish as it was).

"Uh, okay, that's a little suspicious, but I don't fully believe you yet," fair enough, Ten thought, he wouldn't believe anyone either. "Name three award stages NCT has done and who does the solo in Black on Black?"

"The reversed 7 sense at MAMA 2017, cherry bomb at Seoul music awards and Wayv at MAMA 2019, and I was the one who had the solo in black on black," Blinking, Imani mouthed a 'wow' before crossing their arms. 

"Yeah, she definitely wouldn't have known any of that," there was an overwhelming amount of disbelief in their tone, their eyes closing for a moment as they registered what was happening. "So you're Ten? Like seriously Ten, from NCT? This seems like a stupid joke."

He nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I thought it was too, but I'm still here in this random person's body," he looked at the blocked call almost scornfully, irritated that Yuta had blocked it despite knowing why. 

A sudden realisation came to Imani, staring at Ten like he had suddenly grown a third head. "So, was that actually Yuta that had picked up?"

"Yeah, you recognised him?"

"I thought he sounded familiar, but I didn't put it together until now," they shook their heads, "I thought I'd get to meet you in... Nicer circumstances but wow. I'm Imani, by the way," pulling out their phone, they went to type in a number. "If you want, you can use my phone to call. I have international calls cuz my grandparents live abroad. I'll delete the number after, I promise."

His cheeks threatened to split from the size of his smile, finally finding another route. "Really? Thank you!"

The world seemed to move in slow motion as he typed in the number, pressing the call button and watching the screen intently as it rang. Even Imani was interested, wanting to see if Ten's voice would truly be the one to pick up or if they would hear someone laughing at him from the other end of the line. 

And then, after what seemed like a millennia, it was finally picked up.

* * *

She was sat in the kitchen, tracing the rim of the glass of water she had in front of her and observing her surroundings. The kitchen was sleek, countertops covered in granite and stained wood cabinets decorating the walls, creating a rather modern feel that made her feel a little bit pathetic about her own kitchen (though she did remind herself that they were rich and internationally famous people).

Kunhang sat beside her, spooning some bland looking cereal into his mouth, his expression clearly not showing any enjoyment. "Why don't you eat something else?" She questioned as he grimaced for the third time, chewing slowly on the shredded wheat.

"This is the only cereal left," he replied and she wondered why he didn't just eat toast instead of choking down milk, but she digressed. 

Sighing quietly, she drummed her fingers and took another sip of the water. As she put the glass back down, paying more attention to the dull 'ting' of it touching the counter, someone else walked into the kitchen, setting a phone down in front of her.

Her gaze shifted upwards, looking at a young, stern looking man with bleached blonde hair. She had to admit, he was rather handsome, though she couldn't say she was very fond of the way he was looking at her: like he was already irritated and she had yet to even speak a word to him. 

" _Your phone was ringing,_ " He scoffed, turning on the phone and pushing it towards her, showing her the blank lock screen of Ten's phone.

Kunhang, noticing that she was just looking at Yuta blankly, leant closer and took the phone, unlocking it with the password as he whispered that it was 'her' phone. 

"Oh," she muttered, "thank you. Do you know who was calling?" Yuta gave her a funny look.

" _Why are you talking in english_?" Yuta questioned, making her freeze as she realised she didn't know how to reply. Her eyes widened slightly, offering him a tiny smile that he laughed at. 

Quickly thinking of an excuse, the words 'for practise,' left her lips, with Kunhang quickly building on the foundations she'd set up. " _Yeah, we thought it would be better if we spoke in english sometimes just so we don't forget it,_ " Yuta made a noise of understanding.

Yuta nodded, watching as she went on the phone and headed to the calls section, deciding he would try his own hand at english. "I answer and she saying she is your girlfriend," he shrugged while she stared at the number, realising that Ten had been the one to take the initiative and call his phone first. "I told them don't call again. Sasaeng are fucking annoying."

She nodded and he was satisfied with himself, grabbing a snack from the cupboard and disappearing through a door towards the sound of a TV and other voices. 

"Girlfriend?" Kunhang spoke quizzically, a brow raised, "do you know it?"

"Yeah," confirming with a further nod of her head, she did know this number - very intimately in fact, "it's my number."

"Call again?" Just as she was about to call, an incoming call filled the screen and she answered, the line silent for a few seconds before a 'hello?' came through.

"Oh my god," she muttered, feeling a little weird about hearing her own voice speaking to her when she wasn't in control, "that's so weirdâ€¦"

"'Oh my god' seconded," Ten replied and she could only stare at the phone with a volatile mix of bewilderment, amusement and disbelief building up in her chest. She had to restrain herself from pinching her skin again. "So are you (y/n)?"

"Yeah, you're Ten?" A 'yeah' confirmed her suspicions and inhaled deeply, trying to clear her mind while Kunhang only gaped, completely in shock. Any and all lingering doubt he had was completely gone, though his brain couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. How were you supposed to come to terms with the fact that your friend wasn't in their body? "Do you have any idea how to change back? Or know what happened?"

"No idea. I was just watching one of your videos before I fell asleep: dream in a dream," Ten made a soft noise, a mixture of a sigh and confusion. "I don't think there was anything else that I did, at least, not anything that could result in this bullshit."

"Damn. I wasn't anything either, I just came back from a flight and went straight to bed," they both sat in silence for another few moments.

"Maybe if I watch that video again? Are there any computers?" She theorised, clearly grasping at straws though it was miles better than walking around blind.

"Yeah, there's one in my bag. The blue one next to the bunk bed," Ten paused, "have you told any of them? Your friend Imani is the only person that I've told."

Kunhang nodded, pointing enthusiastically to himself and she resisted the urge to laugh. "Kunhang knows. Do you want to speak to him?"

"Please," the phone was handed over and Kunhang felt like he was playing the starring role of some random kdrama. " **I know this is weird, but it really is me. Does no one else suspect anything? I don't know how I'm supposed to switch back and do the performance when I'm halfway across the damn world**."

" **No, you- she's only been with me since we woke up. Yuta-hyung just asked why she was speaking in english and said that a sasaeng said they were your girlfriend,** " he snorted, " **you couldn't have thought of something better?**

"Shut up, I was thinking on the spot. He blocked the number as well," huffing, Ten was clearly still a little bitter, " **anyway, we need to find a way to get me... her out of doing the performance.** Can you pass the phone back?" Kunhang did as asked, handing it back.

"How good are you at dancing?" Ten asked as a last ditch effort, already knowing the answer as Imani's laughter came through.

"Yeah, not very good," A groan followed her words, "wait, shit, the test-"

"Don't worry about that, I got you some time on it," she let out a sigh of relief, "fuck, wait, your professor is coming, I gotta go. I'll call later, unblock your number," the call ended before she could even think of another word to say and she, once again, was left staring at the screen again.

Going to unblock her number like he'd asked, she heard another voice speaking in Korean, though choosing not to look up as Kunhang had replied. Completing her task, she finally glanced upwards, locking eyes with yet another handsome man. 'Fucking hell,' she thought, 'why is everyone here so good looking?'

His hair was coloured a soft champagne pink, the locks a little damp as they framed his symmetrical, angular face. His eyes reminded her of an innocent child's: wide and unsuspecting, a kindness seated deep within the brown. 

" _You guys are ready for the performance_?" He asked and she blinked, glancing at Kunhang who mouthed 'performance'.

Her expression must have looked troubled, the soft furrow of her brows giving the impression of worry and insecurity, so much so that the leader of NCT himself noticing, walking over and seating himself next to her. 

" _You okay? You don't look too pleased about that,_ " Taeyong attempted to tease, pushing at her shoulder lightly, though his smile soon dropped when she looked at her blankly. " _Are nerves getting to you? You always do amazing, Ten-ah._ "

" _Gege said he had a migraine,_ " thinking of something that would explain her lack of response, Kunhang settled on the hardest to prove but easiest to fake. " _I don't know if we should make him perform._ "

Taeyong's expression was immediately filled with concern and Kunhang felt guilt claw at him for lying to him like that. 'It's to keep suspicion away,' he reasoned with himself, 'it'll be easier to hide from fans like this.'

"*Is that true? You have a migraine?*" Hear a cough next to her with the word 'nod' muffled within it, she did as instructed. Unknowingly, her lack of response and out of character behaviour was immediately concerning to Taeyong, the elder not wanting to risk his member's health for one performance, regardless of the disappointed people that would come as a result of it. " _You can't perform?_ "

This time she shook her head, mustering up a small smile as Taeyong reached out to place the back of his hand on her forehead, as if checking for a temperature. Realising that Kunhang was likely claiming she had an illness, she decided to play along, rubbing at her temples as she pulled her lips into a straight line, biting on the inside of her cheeks as though she was in pain. 

" _I think it was the flight,_ " Kunhang offered and Taeyong nodded in understanding. Flights always took a toll on his body too. 

" _I think so too,_ " he sighed, " _you should lie down then. Maybe by the time we get ready, you'll feel better,_ " even though she didn't understand a word being said, the resignation and concern was abundantly clear, warming her heart at just how sweet he was. " _Get some rest, and don't feel bad if you're not able to do it. Your health always comes first,_ yeah?"

"Yeah," the spoon clattered against the ceramic of the bowl, Kunhang standing up as he pulled lightly on her arm. Taeyong watched them both, still sitting down as Kunhang took her away, mumbling something in her ear in english that he couldn't quite catch. He continued to watch them until they disappeared into their room, a resigned sigh passing his lips as he got up, the stool scraping loudly against the floor. Taeyong really hoped it was nothing too serious. 

Meanwhile, the duo were already standing near the middle of the room, the door closed behind them as he let go of her arm. "That was Taeyong, the leader of NCT. He thinks you have a migraine so you're going to have to do some acting so you can stay here instead of performing," that didn't sound too hard, she thought, faking an illness was much easier than dancing in front of hundreds of people. 

"Actually... How good are you at dancing?" He questioned and she only just managed to stifle a laugh.

"You didn't hear me before? I'm completely shit at dancing, but now you've made me curious. Can you show me the dance you're wanting Ten to perform?" Without a moment of hesitation, he was pulling his phone out of his pocket, turning it on and quickly typing it into YouTube. 

Much like the dream in a dream video, his movements were full of poise and carefully controlled movements, each flick of his limbs and movement of his muscles done for a purpose and presentation. No one wanted to view sloppy, half arsed work, and clearly Ten made sure he didn't deliver that.

After the video ended, she could only shake her head. "Unless I feel like making Ten look like a fool, which I don't, I have no chance of performing. If it counts, I can do the macarena?"

As she spoke, a figure finally popped their head out from under the covers, their hair messy as they peered down at the two that were speaking. "So how are you going to cover it up?"

"You were awake?!" Kunhang yelled, seemingly having completely forgotten that Yangyang was also their roommate, staring at the younger with wide eyes full of panic. "Wait... You believe it?" 

Yangyang's brows furrowed at that question, gaze switching from Kunhang to her. "You're playing a joke? I thought this wasn't Ten?"

"I'm not," she cut in, "but how do you know that?" 

"I heard you scream from the bathroom," giggling a little, his smile only widened at her slightly embarrassed expression, "so I decided to go and see why and then I, like, heard your conversation and left. I thought I'd ask you about it when you guys came back." Yangyang got out of the bottom bunk, sitting on the carpeted floor. "Come on, I can help. This seems fun."

'Fun' wasn't exactly the word she would use to describe the situation, but if he was willing to help her, she didn't care what kind of adjectives he used. 

"I have to look a little ill, you can help with that? I was just thinking of looking confused, which isn't that hard," she muttered the last part under her breath, though Kunhang had heard and snorted at it regardless. 

Yangyang pushed his hair away from his face before getting up again, heading to a drawer and pulling them open, producing a pink coloured pallette that had them both confused. "Blush! It'll make you look kinda sick." 

" **Why do you have blush with you?** " Kunhang questioned, moving closer as well as she knelt in front of Yangyang, letting him apply the powder to her face. 

" **Hyuck asked if I could store it there cuz his bag was full. He won't care I used it,** " waving away his concerns, he focused on putting the perfect ratio of pink blush on the apples of her cheeks and on her nose. 

Yangyang knew that normally Ten would never have trusted him to put any makeup on his face for fear of looking like a literal clown afterwards. However, he decided to be nice this one time and dust it on neatly, his proud simper displaying his satisfaction with his skills. "There." 

Looking at the camera, she had to agree that the amount he added did make her look flushed, a 'thank you' spoken to the younger in gratitude. However, a knock on the door interrupted them, heads turning in sync towards the sound. 

"How well can you act?" Yangyang whispered furiously, cramming the pallette back in the drawer as he shoved it closed.

"Shit, I don't know-" the door opened and she was forced into the role of the poor, sick Ten as Taeyong walked in, looking just as concerned as he had in the kitchen.

Kunhang sat on the floor, just a few feet or so in front of her and watched as Taeyong sat next to her. " _Do you still have that migraine?_ " Kunhang nodded and so did she, " _oh, it's best that you don't perform then. I think Sicheng knows your solo, I could ask him to do it._ "

Yangyang decided to speak this time, knowing she had about a 0% chance of answering properly. " _Yeah, I think Sicheng-gege will be good for it, but we should be leaving soon, right? To get ready and stuff._ "

Taeyong nodded, sighing as he placed a hand on her shoulder before getting up. " _You're right, we should start getting ready to leave. Stay here and get better, okay?_ " She nodded as he left, hearing his voice speaking to someone else as the door was shut once more. 

"My god, I feel bad lying to him, he seems like he really cares," she spoke as Yangyang brushed his hair, neatening it up from the messy bed head it was in before. "You're leaving soon?"

"Mhm, Taeyong-hyung is like that, he cares a lot about everyone. He'll tell the managers what's up," he unzipped his suitcase as Kunhang did the same, "I think Jungwoo-hyung is staying here too, so you'll have him for some, like, company."

Sitting on the bed, she watched them go about their duties, "Jungwoo?"

"He's nice, don't worry about it," Kunhanhg reassured, "he won't say anything to you. He's like a big teddy bear, I like him a lot."

"It's hard not to like him," Yangyang added, "just ask him if you need anything. It'd probably be a good idea to tell him, but that's up to you."

Agreeing with Yangyang's words, she figured that if she was going to be staying with this 'Jungwoo' for the next however many hours, it would be for the best for him to know. "I'll do that," she confirmed, giving him a thumbs up as he smiled - his grin bright and almost blinding.

The two men quickly picked out what they wanted to wear, changing into it without being too bothered about her being in the room (though she still did turn around to eliminate most of that uncomfortable peeping Tom feeling), and finished up with minor details like smoothing their hair and putting on watches before turning back to her again. 

"We'll see you later, don't get into too much trouble," Kunhang teased, following her gaze to the bag Ten had mentioned. "Ten's password is just wayv01 in English."

"Okay, thank you," really, she couldn't have been more grateful that he had been there the entire morning and actually saw the events through to now. "I appreciate this a lot, really, thank you Kunhang."

A soft pink tinge covered his cheeks as he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck, his smile small yet happy. "It's okay. I'm helping you and Gege get back to normal so it's no trouble."

They left soon after, hearing multiple people talk as they passed by the room she was in before the front door closed and there was an almost eerie silence that felt unnatural; forced even. 

'Stop scaring yourself,' she thought, reaching for the bag, fingers running over the little handmade details before opening up the bag and pulling out the laptop. 

Deciding that she should try to recreate the scene of her own bedroom, she left to try and find a desk to sit at, the laptop and phone held tightly in her arms. 

Though Kunhang had told her that they were a kpop group, she hadn't expected so many bedrooms to line the way to the living room, making her wonder just how many people were actually in NCT. Maybe she would research it later, after she managed to watch the music video again. 

Finally, after a couple minutes of aimless wandering had passed, she'd managed to find both the living room and a coffee table. And while it wasn't the picture perfect image of what she had at home, it was close enough and that was all she cared about. 

Setting the laptop down and sitting in front of the table, the password was typed in and she quickly headed to youtube. 

The same purple and pink hues filled the screen, taking up every pixel and every breath in her lungs as she watched him again, barely registering how the face that was reflected back in the screen was the same as the man who moved like a petal on the water's surface. 

Watching the fog on screen shift away to reveal Ten's form was something so incredibly interesting despite being mundane, almost comparable to that of a well hidden secret being blurted out by bruised lips. She thought it was one of the most wonderful videos she had ever watched. 

Elbows leant on the coffee table, the cool glass underneath showing the mirrored image of her interest: of wide eyes that were focused on the screen and of wonder.

Nonetheless, as she watched, she began to feel the same pull as before. Perhaps it was her own fatigue, the mental exhaustion catching up to her, or maybe the calming notes that were sung, but she was starting to feel sleepy again. 

The surroundings began to blur, seeming as though they were melting away and becoming unrecognisable before her head settled on her arms - the video forgotten once again and left to play until its very end.

* * *

" _-ng._ "

Her eyebrows were the first thing to move, furrowing at the slight sensation of being shaken.

" _Hyung,_ " she heard the voice clearer this time, the soft and gentle tone reminding her of a mother would wake up their sleeping child. " _Hyung, wake up. You're going to get a crick in your neck sleeping like that._ "

Groaning slightly, a shove was aimed at the hands of whoever was pushing her, the sensation stopping almost immediately. 

Stretching, some of her joints cracking and popping pleasantly as she did so, she looked towards the person who had woken her up. 

Another young man was crouched just beside her, his eyes large and doe like as cocoa brown hues scanned over her face. She did the exact same, drinking in each of his soft features and storing them to memory. While she had met attractive people before, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous with such a beautiful person being so close. 

His cheeks were doughy, looking perfectly round and only adding to the overall cherub quality of his visage, his lips curling up into a cute little simper as he noticed her looking at him. This had to be Jungwoo. 

" _Why weren't you sleeping in your room? Taeyong-hyung said you had a migraine, so it would be better to sleep there instead of on the table,_ " his words went over her head, though his little giggle had not. His voice was warm, dripping honey with every syllable. 

Reminded of Yangyang's advice, she decided she may as well get it over with. 

"I don't understand Korean," she stated simply, watching as his eyebrows furrowed, inky black strands of hair falling over his forehead. "I don't know what you're saying to me."

" _Hyung,_ " he whined, " _stop playing games. They're not funny._ "

"Seriously, I have no idea what you're saying to me," the funny look was to be expected, barely even bothered by it at this point. 

His lips were pursed, pink maws pulled into a straight line as he thought about what to say, only to be interrupted by the sound of Ten's phone going off. 

MC (Ten): Sorry

MC: I told your professor you had a boyfriend who was in an accident so I could leave

MC: and he nearly saw me. Whoops

MC: you didn't go, right?

Jungwoo glanced at her, to Ten's phone, back to her again, silently asking whether or not she would answer. And she did.

Ten (MC): no, I faked being ill

Ten: but now I'm with Jungwoo ??? I think is his name

Ten: I tried the video and it didn't work :(

MC: bullshit

MC: everyone else has gone?

Ten: yeah, just me and him now

MC: that's fine

MC: I'm with your friend Imani by the way 

MC: I'll keep thinking of ways to get us back to normal 

Ten: same :/ never thought I'd meet someone famous like this

MC: haha never thought I'd swap bodies with a stranger either

MC: I'll talk when we get back to your place ttyl

Ten: that's fine, talk later x

The phone was placed down and Jungwoo looked at the screen, looking at the name for a few seconds. " _Who's that?_ "

"I don't-" Jungwoo sigh cut her off as he thought for a moment. 

"Who's this?" He questioned, pout slowly turning into a cheeky grin, "your girlfriend?" He had said it with such gusto and fire that it was hard to not burst into laughter, leaving her to conceal it with a shake of her head. 

"No. It's Ten."

"Ten?" He echoed, confusion clear in his voice, "you are Ten." 

"No. I'm (y/n), not Ten," the poor man looked like he could barely wrap his head around what she was saying; at least they were in the same boat about that. 

Scratching his head, he resorted to a simple nod. However, she spotted his hand smacking towards her before he gently poked her side, confusing her. "You feel like Ten," Jungwoo stated. "And look like Ten."

"That's because we swapped bodies. I'm in his and he's in mine," his fingers still moved to her arm, though she chose to ignore it. "It's confusing, I know, sorry." 

Jungwoo stared at her, pink lips drawn into a straight line - clearly he thought she was joking too. "What's my name?"

"Uh... Jungwoo?"

"Jungwoo what?" At her shrug, his eyes narrowed a little, the brown piercing into her soul. "Okay, your name is? Wait, Ten's name," correcting himself quickly as he saw her lips behind to form her own name, he watched as she floundered. 

"..It's not Ten?"

He burst into laughter, shaking his head at the response. Perhaps it was the way that she had said it with so much confusion that had tickled his funny bone. Jungwoo was likely going crazy, but he almost believed her obliviousness to be true.

"Not Ten," he confirmed, "what are you looking like normally?"

"As in, my face?" He nodded and she was thankful to see he had instagram, though since her account was on private, she had to sign out of his. Jungwoo watched closely, trying to see how far this would go. 

Logging in, she showed her instagram, handing the phone to him so he could look through them. His expression was the only way she could outwardly discern what he was thinking; he seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve in fact, his eyes widening as he made soft hums of approval. On instinct, he double tapped the picture before realisation struck, handing the phone back hurriedly. 

"Pretty," he said simply, prompting her to laugh as he scratched his cheek, pink undercurrents colouring them an airbrushed rose. "You're pretty."

"Ah, thank you," he got up, motioning for her to stay there before quickly getting up and disappearing - only to reappear a moment later with his own phone as he opened Instagram. 

"Follow me, please?" His doe eyes were irresistible and, against her better judgement, she found herself agreeing. None of them really exuded the feeling of being celebrities, seeming more like normal people who just decided to live together in one large dorm. Though, anyone who had 21 friends couldn't really be classified as normal in her eyes. 

Adding the account he followed with, she logged out and spotted him liking a few of the recent ones. Her laugh was loud and jovial, his head shooting up at the sound as he hurriedly pressed home - embarrassed at being caught even if he thought it was a fake account Ten had made.

It was then that a notification popped up on his screen, written in Korean so she wouldn't have been able to understand it regardless. 

Kunhang: Hi hyung, I know she's probably already said she's not Ten by now, but I thought I'd tell you too ^^

Kunhang: Ten-hyung and (y/n) swapped bodies for some reason, that's why he's (she's?) not going with us

Kunhang: sounds like a joke, I know 😔. I swear I'm not kidding and neither is she 

Kunhang: ask her to prove it too

Jungwoo pursed his lips, thinking about what to do. Maybe they were all in on this joke, but since when would they even have the time to execute something like this when they'd just come back from a flight only yesterday?

Suddenly, he had an epiphany. He knew exactly what to do! There was one thing that all of NCT knew Ten would never do, even if his life was practically on the line. 

A cheeky smile began to form on his lips as he thought of the perfect idea to see if this was truly his hyung or not. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked and she was reminded of how she hadn't eaten for hours, the pangs of hunger now apparent as they'd been pointed out. 

"A little," tugging at her arm, he brought her to her feet and guided her down the corridor towards the kitchen where she'd been moping around in earlier. "What are you doing?"

"We have fruit salad. Help me make it, please?"

Not seeing any harm in doing as he wanted, she nodded, his immediate bright smile worth it as it lit up his entire face. if she had to compare his smile to anything, it would have been the soft summer breeze that cooled your skin; nothing too abrasive, yet wholly admired and welcomed.

Hovering near the counters, she watched him busy himself with getting fruit out of the fridge, placing them on the counter and asking if she could wash them while he retrieved some bowls.

While she did as asked of her, she noticed that he seemed to just be… Watching her. It was slightly unsettling to feel his gaze burning into her skin as she cut the tops off of the strawberries, but what did she know? Maybe he was just like that. 

Glancing at him again, she noticed he was staring unusually hard at the berries as she put them into bowls. "Uh, do you want one?" 

Jungwoo nodded quickly, taking it from the cutting board and popping it into his mouth with a satisfied hum. "Do you want one?" 

"I'll eat it with the entire thing, but thank you," he made a small noise of reluctant agreement, helping her cut the rest of the fruits and separating them - sprinkling his own bowl with some salt for, in his words, 'extra flavour'.

Now, she couldn't say she normally ate fruits for breakfast, but whatever Jungwoo wanted was what she would go with. He was fun to be around, especially with his little noises and exclamations in both english and korean ('wow!' he had said rather loudly at one point, startling her as she turned to look at him, only to realise he was very heavily vibing with the blueberry in his mouth).

And while it was a little difficult to communicate, he said his best to try and talk to her, bringing up random conversation topics that had nothing to do with anything. She found she rather liked hanging around Jungwoo. 

Soon enough, they were sitting on the same kitchen stools that she'd been perched on earlier. However, instead of quickly eating like she'd expected - and seen - he only… Stared. 

A couple of moments passed, the fork tongs scraping against the ceramic as she poked at a piece of melon, and he continued to watch her. "Is something wrong?" She finally questioned.

"No, it's okay. Just eat, please," deciding it wasn't worth the brain power to try and figure out his intentions, she just popped the piece of fruit into her mouth. 

Not paying too much attention to him, she missed how his eyes widened, jaw dropping as if he was watching something unnatural, like tree sprouting legs and running laps. 

His eyes almost bulged out of his head, gasping audibly as she ate a piece of apple. " _What the hell?_ " he muttered, " _you really aren't hyung… What the fuck?_ "

There were no signs of distress on her face, not even a slight nose scrunch of distaste. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it, the sight only baffling him as he scratched his head. Apparently Kunhang wasn't joking then. 

"You're not Ten," he reiterated in English.

"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow. "I told you. You didn't believe me?" 

"Now I believe you," he could only shake his head, running his hand through his hair, "so crazy. I thought you were joking."

He made no further comment, stuffing his face quickly while she finished the last few bits of fruit before tugging her up again. And somehow, when it was him, she didn't mind at all. 

They stayed glued at the hip for the rest of the day, with him telling her wild stories and playing some of their songs - seemingly just enjoying having someone new around for a change. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, his personality making it easy to become fond of him as he was neither too overbearing nor annoying. 

She was curled up on the sofa, his hair lightly tickling her neck as he rested it on her shoulder, his own arm looked around hers as they watched something on the TV. Or rather, Jungwoo was. Her eyes felt heavy, the soft whispers of sleep begging her to close them and fall into another deep slumber, her head beginning to lull against the soft cushions. 

Yawning a little, it was there she fell asleep - the dull feeling of his weight pressed against her side and the background noise from the TV. And it was also in that position that the rest of the NCT members found them in, both fast asleep next to each other. 

* * *

Ten groaned, an annoyed huff leaving his lips as his eyes remained mostly closed. A large pressure was covering half his body as his arms reached out to shove at it, his eyes barely opened, when he heard a soft voice right next to his ear.

"(y/n)?" Came the voice and he forced himself to open them fully, making himself smaller so that they tumbled a little from the sudden gap between them. Jungwoo pushed himself up again, scanning over his features critically.

" _No. It's Ten,_ " the sudden realisation hit him as soon as he said it, hands patting over his body to confirm it really was him. "Fuck YES!" 

His phone vibrated the instant he made the exclamation, a text on the screen from the number he had grown familiar too.

MC: we're back, bitch!

Ten grinned as Jungwoo watched him curiously, his fingers flying across the screen. 

Ten: We are!!!


	2. &

It was with baited breath and a racing heart that she had opened the email from her professor - the same one that she had been sweating over ever since she had done the exam. The poor organ felt like it was going to burst, hammering against her sternum with an unnerving intensity. 

And of course, as she had pressed on it, the damn thing decided to start lagging and take more than the usual millisecond to load. 

She couldn't have been faster to try and scroll, moving past the unnecessary words and greeting to get right to the gold: and gold it was! 

The great big '95%' stared her in the face in it's black and white glory, singing praises and hymns to her with the bold 'A' that was right next to it. 

It was almost worth the agonisingly awkward test, where she had to do the exam by herself in a room while the sound of the professor's mouse provided background noise. What was even more embarrassing was the way she had to nod and smile when he asked how her 'boyfriend' was and if he was recovering well. She didn't think she'd ever told such a bold faced lie in her entire life. 

Nonetheless, she had the grade she wanted and that's all she cared about. It didn't matter that she had swapped bodies with an idol just before it; that fact was barely on her mind these days! 

"So," Imani spoke, looking at her with interest as she grinned at her screen, "which girlfriend you texting?"

"Yours," she replied and they scoffed. "I just got 95% in that exam."

A perfect dark eyebrow was raised as Imani leant back in their seat, arms crossed over their chest as they pursed their lips. "You sure you didn't cheat? You seem like a cheat."

Her eye roll was immediate, feet aiming to kick at theirs and successfully managing to do so on the second try, their knee jumping and nearly hitting the underside of the table. "Of course, I definitely cheated with him right behind me," her thumb moved across her screen as she scrolled, "though, I feel like I should thank Ten for getting me an extra few days to prepare."

"Even though he fake cried and made the professor think you had a comatose boyfriend?"

"Yes."

Imani nodded. "Fair enough."

Looking back at her phone, she grew bored of seeing the mass survey emails sent out by desperate students and turned off the device. She'd had enough desperation in the past week or so to last her a lifetime - and then some. 

"What are you thinking of ordering then?" She asked, fingers drumming against the table of the booth they were in, the menu situated in front of them both. "Usual?"

"Probably, yeah. I don't feel like experimenting today." She could understand that; she'd been feeling a little lazy the entire day too. "But you know what's weird? The fact that you switched bodies and then it hasn't happened again."

"Don't jinx me," a kiss was blown her way and her expression remained unimpressed, "thank god, though. Last time it was so weird. Jungwoo literally stared at me while I was eating."

For a moment they were silent before speaking. "What were you eating?"

"A fruit salad?"

A snort followed by loud laughter passed Imani's lips, their maws curled up into an amused smile that cut into their cheek. "Yeah, no wonder. Ten hates fruit. He was probably wondering why the hell you're eating it."

"Well… He did say he believed me right after, so I guess it worked in my favour," shrugging, she sat up straight. "Okay, I'm hungry."

"Damn, me too. You distract me by talking too much."

"Shut u-" The retort was cut off, the words and syllables dying in the back of her throat. A near stabbing pain rushed through her head, her ragged inhale sounding like an injured animal's furious hiss. "Holy fuck."

Despite rubbing at her temples, the pain seemed to grow, increasing in magnitude and intensity at an alarming rate. The headache that she'd dismissed earlier was coming back with vengeance, cursing her for ever ignoring it and thinking it was over with. 

"Are you okay?" Faintly hearing her friend's worried tone, she managed a quick smile and nod. "You sure?"

"Yeah," her reassurance was quick and prompt, even if it wasn't entirely truthful. She didn't want to make Imani worry about anything. "Just a headache."

Shutting her eyes for a moment, she tried the method of inhaling and exhaling in the desperate hope that it would ease the ridiculous pain in her head. 

And thankfully, it did. Within the instant that she'd closed her eyes, the intense throbbing dissipated and she could breathe a sigh of relief. 

And yet when she opened her eyes, she found herself wishing for the pain to return - for this thing in front of her was far worse in its consequences than any measly headache could ever be. 

Her lips formed a frown, her gaze concentrated on the sudden phone that appeared in front of her face, comments and people flooding in by the second. For a few seconds, she said nothing, instead choosing to look over the screen and at the face that was mirrored: a strikingly familiar visage that she knew almost as well as her own. 

"Oh for fuck's sake," she muttered, standing up and walking out, leaving a confused Taeyong to stare at her retreating figure and subsequently deal with the comments that changed to 'where is he going?', 'is he okay?' and Taeyong's personal 'favourite': 'omg Ten swore ㅋㅋㅋ'

Meanwhile, she stood in the corridor outside the room she'd just left, patting down her pockets and sighing in relief when she felt the bulge of his phone in the back pocket. 

MC (Ten): wow. 

MC: here we go again 

MC: You good?

While she personally wouldn't have used 'good' to describe her feelings, she appreciated the sentiment. 

Ten (MC): as good as I can be when I'm back in someone else's body 

Ten: wbu?

MC: I'm alright

MC: are you still with Taeyong? We were doing a live stream

Ten: Oh shit, is that what that was? I just kinda left randomly in the middle of it

MC: lol don't worry about it

Ten: Imani realised you're Ten yet?

There was a brief moment where he went offline before he reappeared online.

MC: now they know 😌

Ten: so. What do we do about me? Shall I find Kunhang or Yangyang?

MC: yeah that'd be smart. I think they're in the living room

MC: hey uh

MC: you don't mind if I eat the food, right? You left me a hungry body

Ten: LMAO, go ahead. I'll go and find them now. Enjoy the food

MC: okay, keep me updated

Ten: Will do

Turning off the screen, she looked at the reflection of the face with interest. From the last time that she'd occupied his body two or so months ago, he had little changes to his appearance. For one, his hair was now bleached, a dirty blonde that complimented his complexion beautifully, the strands a little longer and flopping into her range of vision. There was also a small slit in his eyebrow, a stylistic choice that only made his gaze sharper and more piercing. 

Pursing her lips, she decided to stop admiring 'her' face and instead try to find the aforementioned men. 

Her memory was a little hazy, not fully remembering the layout of the dorm; she had only been in a few of the rooms before. Nonetheless, she made her way through the corridor and by walking straight, she managed to spot someone sitting on the sofa - though their face was completely hidden from the angle in which she was seeing them. 

"Uh, Kunhang?" Her voice rang out, betraying her with how unconfident and quizzical it sounded - the syllables slowly becoming foreign on her tongue from the two month disuse. 

Thankfully, she hadn't completely embarrassed herself. He turned around, looking at her with the same amount of questioning as she did just seconds ago. " **Yeah? You need something?** "

"I don't know what you just said." Her legs took her to his side, sitting next to him on the sofa as his gaze never left her. "Guess who's back."

" **Again**?" He exclaimed, surprise clear in his tone, whatever game he was playing on his phone completely forgotten as he shoved it away. "How?"

She shrugged. "Hell if I know. I just had a headache and closed my eyes, then I was in front of a phone in Ten's body."

Kunhang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, instead choosing the more sensible option of neither. "Ten was doing a V live with Taeyong," he stated and she nodded affirmatively, "you left?"

"Yeah," came her simple reply, punctuated by a shrug. 

If Kunhang didn't know any better, he would've still thought she was Ten based on that action alone. "Uh... Okay." He chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to think of something before his thoughts were interrupted by her speaking again. 

"There's no performances or anything, right? I don't know if the macarena will entertain thousands of people, and I'm barely any good at that either." Her words were uttered with dead seriousness as she scratched her head. 

"No performances," he confirmed, "no need for the macarena." Quickly, his thoughts went back to his previous train of thought. "It would be easier if everyone knew you're not Ten. Then we can have more help."

It didn't take much of a genius to figure that out, but she had some qualms with that, namely whether or not Ten would want that. It was one thing for Imani to know, it was another to have 20 different people aware of this disaster. 

"Let me ask Ten first."

Ten (MC): Kunhang suggested something

Ten: That we tell the rest of ur friends what's up

Ten: are u okay with that?

MC (Ten): yeah, that's fine with me too

MC: if they start getting annoying, just write their names in the notes app and I'll annoy them back after

Ten: lmfaoooo 

Ten: sounds good

"He said okay," she informed and Kunhang was speedy in getting out his phone, texting the already semi active group chat to get their attention. 

Almost instantly footsteps followed, Yangyang and Jungwoo appearing within seconds of each other - both of them staring at her figure on the sofa. 

"You're back?" Yangyang asked, leaning against the back of the furniture as Jungwoo took a seat at her side, fitting in comfortably. "I thought it was like, a one time kind of thing."

Laughter spilled past her lips, though it was hard to tell if it was from actual amusement or exasperation. "I wish it was. I was just about to eat some food I was craving too."

Snorting, Yangyang sat beside Jungwoo, curling up into the space as he typed on his phone, doing something she couldn't quite see. 

"You're not Ten?" Jungwoo questioned, doe eyes wide and full of curiosity, his fingers absentmindedly poking her arm once more. The action made her smile as she confirmed his suspicions with a nod. "Welcome again."

"Thank you."

Yangyang shoved his phone near their faces, showing the messages that flooded in (though he might as well not have bothered showing her it; she didn't understand a single syllable). "Taeyong said he's ending the v live soon so he'll be here in a bit too."

Watching the members of NCT flood into the living room was an experience, the stream of people seemingly never ending as they filled up the sofas and began to perch on the table and sit on the floor. However, the most unrealistic thing to her was how they all decided to come, not one person missing as they sat down. 

" _So, what are we here for?_ " Doyoung questioned, saying what they were all thinking. 

Jungwoo clapped his hands together, the sound making their gazes center on them all - stares burning into her skin. " _We have to tell you something, it's to do with Ten-hyung,_ " he started, " _this isn't actually him. It's a foreigner called (y/n) who's swapped into his body._ "

The mixture of expressions would have been amusing had they actually been pulling a joke. From Johnny's bewildered look to Dejun's brows furrowing from irritation, almost the entire human spectrum of emotion could be seen within one room.

" _You guys made me stop playing overwatch for this?_ " Donghyuck didn't look impressed, starting to get up as Kunhang gave him a look that told him to sit down again. 

" _It sounds stupid, I know, but we're not joking. This actually isn't Ten-ge. They've swapped bodies before, remember the black one black performance? It was then._ "

Another silence fell over the room, the guys exchanging glances before Kun tutted. " _You guys need to work on your prank executions. This one was pretty bad,_ " murmurs of agreement came and both Yangyang and Kunhang looked more than annoyed at the dig. 

" _It's not even a joke,_ " Yangyang huffed, " _we're serious. It's not Ten-ge. Why would he just suddenly leave the V live?_ "

" _Because it's something he would do,_ " Chenle piped up, earning a couple of sniggers here and there. 

Jungwoo shook his head at the hopeless situation. They clearly weren't going to believe them without proof (which he couldn't really blame them for since that would be very hypocritical).

"You show proof?" Jungwoo asked her, pointing to Ten's phone, "call him and see."

"Good idea!" Nodding enthusiastically, Kunhang grabbed the phone and requested a video call while the others watched in a state of both confusion and amusement. How far were they going to go for this?

The phone rang a couple of times before getting picked up, her face shown clearly on screen as Kunhang held it up for everyone to see. " _Ge, they don't believe us. Say something that only you would know._ "

While she didn't know what anyone was saying, she could tell that Kunhang had asked Ten for proof judging from the way that everyone was glancing at each other and then the screen. Either that or they were talking about her face. Really, she hoped it was the former. 

" _Proof?_ " Ten repeated, his finger tapping against his chin as he thought for a moment, his eyes locking on to Sicheng - a shiver running down the poor man's spine.

The entire dorm was silent, everyone watching Ten in fascination. Not even the younger ones commented on how Kunhang had so casually video called a girl in front of everyone.

"Ah," chewing on the end of the drink straw, a mischievous glint was in Ten's eye as he grinned. " _I remember something, it was this morning actually. I'd just woken up and I needed to use the bathroom, so I'd decided to go to the main bathroom. And when I got there, I heard voices,_ " his smile broadened as he recounted the story. " _I didn't really care, so I just went in and guess what? I saw our beloved Kun-ge and winwinnie in there. But they weren't just brushing their teeth or whatever, you know, like normal people. Instead, they were inspecting each other's belly buttons and discussing their opinions on innies, outies and whether coconut shampoo gets rid of dandruff._ "

Everyone's heads turned to Kun and Sicheng, with Kun's cheeks blossoming with red while Sicheng's lips were pulled into a pout, his legs pulled to his chin to hide his face. Clearly Ten was telling the truth. 

" **What the hell,** " Sicheng mumbled, " **I thought he said he wouldn't tell anyone.** " He glared at her poor figure despite her being clueless. 

Giggles erupted upon the group upon seeing their bashfulness, the men near them poking and teasing them by trying to touch their belly buttons or rubbing their own stomachs. 

" _Is that enough proof, or do you want me to tell you about other things too?_ " Once Ten began to talk, there was no stopping the man, his cheeky smile enough to instil fear even in the most stone hearted of people. " _Like when Mark dropped Taeyong's toothbrush in the toilet and didn't wash it and Taeyong used it. Maybe how Doyoung sometimes sucks his thumb in his sleep and calls for his mum. Or how Jisung ate all the expensive chocolates and blamed it on Sungchan, or-_ "

"Okay!" Johnny interrupted, somehow managed to hide his laugh as he sensed the chaos that was about to ensue - call it the older brother instinct. 

Accusing glances were thrown around, some members openly laughing and showing their amusement with poorly concealed smiles, while others watched her with pursed lips. 

" _That enough proof?_ " Ten prompted again and this time, no one hesitated to nod. "Amazing," he said as he shoved food into his mouth.

"Wait wait," Mark started while looking at her, "you like eating apples, right?"

She blinked at the completely random question, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, I like apples. Prefer red ones if I'm honest. I had a bowl of fruit with Jungwoo last time I was here."

"You ate fruit?!" Ten exclaimed, groaning dramatically a moment later, " _god. You have to believe me now_."

It was Jungwoo's turn to be stared at, the man only giving them a small wave as explanation. " _You believe us?_ "

" _Well... Unless you're pulling some kind of elaborate joke,_ " Yuno spoke, " _I guess I believe you._ "

Yangyang shrugged as he glanced at them both. " _Better than nothing._ "

There was nothing said for a couple of moments, everyone unsure of where to go next. 

"Do you know korean?" Taeyong asked, breaking the silence. She shook her head. "Chinese?" Another shake of the head. 

" _Damn, what do we do from here then? Uh... So do you just swap randomly or what?_ " Yangyang translated the question quietly to her while Ten was speaking.

" _For the first time, I was just asleep and I woke up in front of her computer. This time, I only closed my eyes._ "

"I fell asleep for the first time as well, and just now, I had a really bad headache before being swapped into Ten's body," They looked at them both like they were aliens. "I know that's not very helpful, but that's all I have."

The discussion went on for a little while, with both parties trying to figure out a connection, though really, all their efforts led to a dead end. There was nothing that could concretely be defined as the reason for their swapping. 

Instead, the call ended with a sigh from her before she asked Ten if he could attend one of her mandatory lessons (to which he of course agreed to, though warned that his notes would likely be subpar).

"I guess if you have any suggestions for what we can do to stop this, feel free to tell me," she spoke, frowning a little while the neo's exchanged more looks with each other. Everyone was clearly as stumped as she was. 

"This is... Real?" Jisung piped up, biting on his plush bottom lip a little nervously, saying what everyone else has been thinking but was too cowardly to say. 

"Yeah, I promise you this is real. This is too much hassle for a joke."

" _Clearly,_ " Doyoung snorted, " _they would have to rope some random person into doing this with them, and god knows Ten would scare off any girl he comes into contact with._ "

Taeyong rolled his eyes, though he didn't bother hiding his laugh. Ten was notorious for being a lady killer, though not in the metaphorical sense, unfortunately. 

" _I don't know how to help them. Especially with her not knowing Korean, it just makes it harder,_ " the leader lamented his woes and the followers agreed, nodding in sync while she watched them with a slight sense of being unsettled. It was like watching a wave progress and ripple, becoming larger and larger before it faded into the vast expanse of the ocean. 

" _Me, Yangyang and Jungwoo-hyung can help her,_ ". Kunhang was quick to interrupt, not wanting Taeyong to feel any more stress than he had to. " _Don't worry, we have this under control._ "

The looks directed towards him were sceptical at best and amused at worst. " _You sure?_ "

" _Very sure,_ " chirped Jungwoo, looping his arm with hers and giving them a thumbs up. " _We definitely have this under control._ "

Taeyong pursed his lips, shaking his head as he muttered something about needing to take a couple of years off after this. But, at this point, all he could hope was that Jungwoo was telling the truth.

* * *

"So," Ten started, chewing on one of the fries absentmindedly, "you're the only lifeline I have here. You have any suggestions?"

Imani shrugged, the enby clearly not knowing what to do either. "For getting you to swap back, no. But if you're feeling bored, then we can go do something? You can use this time as a break, I guess."

Considering that for a moment, Ten only took a few more seconds (and a few more chips crammed into his mouth) before he nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. You have any malls or whatever around here?"

"Course we do, just gotta drive a bit and we're there." While Imani asked the staff if they could get some containers, considering they had paid for the food after all, Ten pulled out her phone from her pocket and unlocked it to download his bank's app. Of course, since he didn't have his own cards with him, he would have to do a fiddly process of transferring money, but he was fine with that.

It had been a long time since he had been able to go in person to a shopping centre, wanting to spend some time being 'normal' per se. And who knows? Maybe where she lived, they had different styles and fashion.

With the food neatly packaged, Imani corralled him to the front and into the same car he had gotten into before. "I'll just take you to the biggest one we have, then you can fuck around in there." 

"Nice," Ten grinned, already excited to be able to look around a new town without the chance of being bombarded. "Did you have anything to do today?"

"Not really. We were just gonna eat and then go back to my place to play games until we passed out," Imani laughed, indicating to get onto the main road, "but I don't mind going shopping instead, I've been eyeing some shoes and I might as well get 'em since I have an excuse."

"You like shoes?" 

"Yeah, got a whole ass collection. She likes to call it my hoard but it's my treasure." Ten hummed, watching the streets change as they drove. 

"I have a collection of earrings and rings too, I like to collect them from different cities when I visit," he explained, "haven't been going around as often now though."

"No tour planned? You should hold one here just for me," Imani teased, "won't WAYV go on a tour soon?"

"Not that I know of." Even though he did want a tour soon, he was well aware of all the planning and sleepless nights that would come. 

Nonetheless, they soon reached the shopping centre, with a small ordeal of someone stealing Imani's parking space before they could properly park and making them go on another hunt for five minutes for a different one. 

"People are assholes in every country then," Ten commented as soon as they got out, making Imani roll their eyes a little with a small mutter of 'trust me.' "You know any good stores?"

That seemed to perk them up right away as they nodded. "Course I do. You can call this the once in a lifetime 'mani tour." 

"Can't wait, but how about we get your shoes first?" They shrugged, presumably not that bothered about what order they did things. 

"Don't mind, you're the guest."

"Shut up," he scoffed, punctuating his sentence with a slight tug to their sleeve. "Let's go."

The store that Imani took them to was one that seemed to have a speciality in sports related items. Everything within was branded, the newest releases shown on a rack as soon as you walked in. "Wow. Yangyang would love it here, he's crazy for brands," he commented, seeing some jumpers that he knew Yangyang would like and taking a picture to send afterwards.

"Christ yeah, the dude looks like he lives in hoodies."

"You're not wrong. It's hoodies or sleeveless shirts."

Spending a little more time looking around, Ten watched with hawk-like intensity as they tried on the shoes they wanted, knowing he had to work fast to get his plan to work. As soon as they were holding the box and was walking to the till, he made his way over. 

"Hey, Imani? Could you get me the hat I was looking at, please? I'll save our spaces here," Ten asked, taking the box of shoes from them and waiting till they had turned the corner before immediately sprinting into action to get to the cashiers.

Imani barely had a chance to even return to the line before Ten was behind them, scaring them by snatching the hat and pulling it mischievously over their eyes. "C'mon, let's go."

"Don't you want the hat?" They asked, a little confused before spotting the bag in his hand. "You're such a sneaky fucker. Now I understand why they don't trust you in variety shows."

Laughing loudly, he only winked and handed over the bag, closing their fingers over the handle. "It's whatever. Think of it as like a thank you for putting up with this shit too." The barely suppressed smile on Imani's lips and the seemingly endless 'thank you's made the small act completely worth it. "Gotta make it up to you because you're getting dragged around."

"No stress," they gently tugged on his wrist, "now let's go to look for clothes."

He moved along with their small tugs, looking around the space they were in with its towering walls and bustling shoppers. "I'm picky though, just a warning."

"I have a watch obsessed brother, trust me, I know how to deal with picky."

And of course, Ten proved himself to be just as picky as he said he was. They went to multiple stores, looking around with not a single thing catching his eye until Imani dragged him into one of their favourite shops.

"You think this would look good on me?" He asked, holding up a sequinned top, the fabric rather smooth and slippery. "I want to try newer styles of clothing."

"Anything looks good on you," they replied and Ten would have chided them for being annoying if they weren't deadly serious. "Do they have your size?"

"Don't really know my size here."

"Google it." Doing as told, he finally found a somewhat coherent translation and began looking through the racks. "You could probably fit into everything here honestly."

"I mean, if something doesn't fit I have other people I can give it to."

Imani chuckled, shaking their head as they looked through a rack of hoodies. "Yeah, 22 other dudes. At least you guys get to share a load of different styles between each other."

Hearing Imani say that put an idea into his head, the hanger held in his hand almost like a weapon as he pointed it towards them. "How about a game, if you want to?"

"Hm, do tell."

"Find me some clothing that you would personally like to see me in and I'll wear them as soon as I'm back?"

Tongue poking their cheek, they looked over the different areas of the store before nodding. "Challenge accepted. Anything you're not comfortable with?"

"Nah, go crazy."

Go crazy Imani did, surprising Ten with just how much effort they were putting into finding him clothes. And he couldn't really say that he was expecting the clothing that was handed to him afterwards, both of them standing in a corner while Ten looked through the different materials. 

"Damn, you really like the flowing fabrics," Ten said, holding the two different almost floor length cardigans. Both of them were made from fabric that slipped easily through his fingers and would show off his every movement. 

Imani gave him a shy smile and a shrug. "I really like when you like things that show how you move," they replied, dark brown eyes lighting up when Ten hummed in approval at the crop tops. "You like it?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't normally wear these kinds of things unless it's for a stage, but I like it so I'll wear them." Ten held up a particularly short black and grey top. Jagged edges decorated the bottom with red roses and vines running along the centre. "This reminds me of goths."

"Same, that's why I picked it up. Never hurts to be a little scene."

Ten nodded, putting everything on his arm in satisfaction. "Great, now do you know any good makeup shops?"

* * *

"So, what do you guys typically do?" She asked, leaning back against the sofa as Jungwoo typed away on his phone, his head resting on her shoulder. "Do any of you go to school?"

"Not really," Yangyang shrugged, making himself more comfortable by elbowing Kunhang out of the way, ignoring the elder's yelps. "Some of the dreamies used to, but not anymore. I think some of the older guys are like, doing online uni and stuff."

"Online school is a drag, but it's probably better considering your attendance likely wouldn't be that good."

"Yeah, having education is good though," Kunhang added in, rubbing his side while directing a glare to Yangyang's skull. "Ten said you do art?"

"Close, graphic design actually. I want to do design for companies," she explained and Jungwoo seemed to perk up upon hearing about designs, his phone tucked away as he took her arm, pushing up the sleeve and revealing the intricate tattoo there. 

Nimble fingers traced over the lines, the sleeve pushed up a little more to show the tattoo in its entirety. "Ten did it."

"Really? Wow, he's really good."

Poking her shoulder too, Yangyang played around with the shirt. "He has a few. Two more on there and one on his-" he gestured vaguely to his chest and it was beyond hilarious to see his hand fall back to his lap after his failed attempt at an explanation.

"On his boob?" She offered, Kunhang laughing next to her and Jungwoo stifling his own behind his hand. 

"Uh, yeah," he mumbled, pulling his shirt over his nose to hide his own childish grin, "there."

A couple of seconds passed before Kunhang shuffled (making sure to elbow Yangyang in the ribs this time) and sat up. "Who's your bias? It's me, yeah?"

"You?" Yangyang said, pretending to gag without hesitation a moment later. "As if, it's me."

" **Only crazy people bias you.** " Yangyang had the gall to look offended, jumping onto Kunhang and scrambling around with him. The sight was rather comical and she likened it to a cat fight with how they were both trying to get on top of the other. 

"Do they do that often?" She asked Jungwoo, the eldest of the trio looking like he also wanted to join in on the 'action'. 

"Sometimes. Kun-hyung will know," he replied, leaning over and adding fuel to the fire by trying to hug one of them - which they mistook as an invitation to be included. Before long, they had taken up most of the sofa, a beanie seemingly flying out of nowhere. 

Shaking her head, she got up and left them to their devices, throwing in a comment that the closest she had to a bias was Ten just to rile them up before leaving to scout someone she could go bother.

* * *

When Ten walked in with palettes and clothing stacked mile high in his arms, his face barely visible behind the man made mountain, it was only natural that the people in the dorm gave him weird looks. And 'people' at the moment, was defined as Jungwoo and Kun.

" _What the hell? Hyung, did you buy out an entire store or what?_ " Jungwoo remarked, seeing him wobble his way into the living room before dumping everything on the sofa. " _You have a room, you know.._ "

" _This is my room too by association,_ " Ten replied without missing a beat, Kun's eye roll already beginning to form as soon as the first syllable was uttered.

" _When did you order all of this?_ " Kun asked, picking up a highlighter compact. " _It's all in english?_ "

" _Yeah, I got it while I was in her body._ "

Jungwoo barely held back his snort, helping him move the more fragile makeup onto the coffee table. " _So you took the opportunity to go shopping instead?_ "

" _Why not?_ "

" _Oh yeah, why not?_ " Kun added sarcastically, looking through the various items and even trying on a few jackets himself, " _you're stuck in someone's body, but you know, why not go shopping?_ "

Ten's cheekiness never rested, replying with a snarky 'glad you agree' before stopping to look at the mound of clothing on the sofa. " _Could you take this to my room? I need to sort out the stuff here._ " Despite grumbling at Ten, Kun did as asked and was soon taking most of the clothes to his bedroom, leaving just him and Jungwoo.

" _What did you do? Did you do anything interesting?_ " Jungwoo wanted to know what it was like in her hometown, questions coming out of him at a rapid fire pace. " _What's it like there?_ "

" _It was pretty fun actually, Just kind of went around with her friend and-_ " Ten stopped suddenly, Jungwoo's looking at him with a quizzical expression. 

He looked dazed, as though he had suddenly been struck with an incredible amount of force. " _Hyung, are you ok-_ "

"Oh shit, fuck!" Scrambling to get the phone, Jungwoo watched as he hurriedly went to contacts, swiping across on someone's number. "I was driving! Does Ten know how to drive?"

Oh. He thought, that's why he looked so frantic; they'd switched again. Though, before he could even think of getting a word out, the phone had been picked up, her voice coming through the other end. 

"Oh my fucking god," Ten exclaimed and she sighed in relief. "I'm so fucking glad the road was empty. I pulled over on the side but like, I don't know where the hell I am."

"I was on the way to get groceries. Can you drive?"

"Uh, no."

Puffing out her cheeks, she thought for a moment. "I think Imani is free, they'll help you."

"Poor Imani, always getting caught up in this bullshit." Laughing at his remark, she had to agree. "I'll do that then, I'll text when I'm back."

"Okay, stay safe."

The phone was put down with a heavy sign, shaking her head before she looked down and saw the multitude of things strewn out on the table in front of her. "Huh? What's all this?"

Jungwoo moved some of the things, sitting in the empty space that appeared. "Ten got it when he was you," he attempted to explain, chewing on his cheek for a moment, "he sent it here."

"Ah, so that's what he was doing with the money transferring," she mumbled, having asked him about it only to get a response of 'I just wanted to get something but didn't have a card.' "They look cute."

Nodding, Jungwoo looked at her face for a few seconds before timidly speaking up - his voice a little more shy than usual. "Hey, can I-" he paused, gesturing from her to the cosmetics on the table, "um, your makeup, I want to..."

"You wanna do it?" At his rapid nodding, she shrugged. "I don't mind but let me ask Ten first."

Ten (MC): Jungwoo wants to know if he can do your (my) makeup?

MC (Ten): yh that's fine with me as long as you take it off as soon as ur done

Ten: will do !

"He said okay," she confirmed and the dazzling smile on Jungwoo's face was almost worth the annoyance of being back in a body and country that she had no business being in. If she had been concentrating a little harder, maybe she would have noticed how her skin tingled slightly after he let go of her hand. "You'll have to show me where the makeup remover and stuff is afterwards though."

"No problem!" He chirped before tapping his chin, clearly in thought as he looked over the multitude of pallets at his disposal. Ten certainly hadn't been frugal with his spending and now, as she looked closer at the collection at her disposal, she realised he seemed to have quite the affinity for glitter and warm summery colours.

While Jungwoo busied himself with looking through the colours and decided what he wanted to pair together, she noticed another man lingering near the doorway. She could very faintly remember seeing him during the meeting, but his name wasn't coming to her all that quickly. 

"Hi," she greeted, grinning a little at the surprise on his countenance. 

He moved closer, slowly taking the other seat next to her and looking at her with scepticism that was now all too familiar. "You... Are not Ten?"

"Nope. What's your name? Sorry, there's a lot of you guys."

"It's okay," he replied, waving it away, "I'm Kun, nice to meet you." His response made her snort, finding it a little funny how adorably awkward he was. 

"Nice to meet you too." She looked over him for a moment, looking at him closely and taking in every one of his features. His features, while not as fairy-like as Jungwoo's or Ten's were, still held an unabashed beauty. His eyes were warm, plush lips curling into a smile as Jungwoo spoke to him. She also thought he was incredibly pretty, though that was a common theme with the men of NCT. "You're really handsome, Kun. Are you any good at makeup?"

Staring at her for a couple of moments, his ears slowly tinting red, he replied with a quiet 'so so.'

" _What are you doing now? Doing hi-her makeup?_ " Jungwoo nodded, finally deciding upon a few colours and shuffling closer, brows knitted together to form an expression of concentration. " _I want to do the eyeliner._ "

" _Sure, but I'm doing the eye shadow._ " She looked back and forth between them, pursing her lips slightly before Jungwoo shuffled closer, eyes narrowed as he held her face between his fingers, turning it this way and that in a theatrical manner. " _Hyung, do you know where any brushes are? I don't want to use my fingers or he might kill me._ "

" _I think Hyuck has some. One second._ " Kun got up, disappearing down the corridor.

"So, what else have you been doing? It's been a while since the last swap. What colour is Ten's hair now?"

"Ten's hair is blue," he instinctively reached up to show her, but quickly realised his hair was too short to pull to the front. "More comebacks and stuff. NCT U is having stages now."

"You're in the unit?"

"I'm not in this NCT U, I have different song."

Footsteps could be heard as Kun came back, brandishing the makeup brushes with vigour and a dimpled smile. " _Got them. He said that he hasn't washed them for a while though._ "

" _It'll be fine,_ " Jungwoo said, taking one of the brushes and immediately heading for one of the yellows, wanting to pair it with a warmer colour afterwards. " _If Hyung gets any pimples afterwards, we both know nothing._ "

Kun nodded; that was fine with him. 

He was clearly concentrating hard, wanting to make it perfect as he blended it out, his face almost a little too close to hers. The brush moved along the skin, his concentration clear as he re dipped his brush and did the other eye. " _Should I use red or orange?_ "

" _Orange. Red might make it look like he... She got punched._ "

Heeding the elder's advice, he swapped to red and blended it as best he could to the tail end of the yellow. " _It kind of looks like a sunset._ " Jungwoo nodded. 

" _That's what I was going for. Summer colours look nice._ " 

Not understanding much of what either were saying, she could only assume that they were talking about the makeup. "Could I see?" He handed her the palette and let her look in the mirror, smiling proudly as she looked it over.

The eyeshadow, albeit not the most jaw dropping, was pretty nonetheless and complimented Ten's skin tone well. "It looks nice, you know your colour theory well."

With a smile, he took back the palette and began to look around the other cosmetics. " _Hyung, you can do her eyeliner now._ "

Kun, compared to Jungwoo, was much more light handed, moving her head gently as he applied the eyeliner in almost record speed - certainly faster than she could anyway. "Wow, you're so quick."

"Thank you. I like to do makeup sometimes with Haechan."

"He's the small one in dream and 127?"

"Yeah." He moved onto the other eye, "you're more fun than Ten. He's so annoying," he sighed dramatically and she only just held back her laughter, not wanting to move him. 

"He's a strong character. I can be just as annoying but, I'll be nice."

"Wow, so kind of you."

He didn't take much longer to finish the other eye, moving the pen with a satisfied hum. " **Finished.** "

She reached out to get a mirror but Jungwoo stopped her, shaking his head. "When everything is finished, you can see, okay?"

"Alright."

Putting the cap back on the liner, Kun stood up." _I'll be back in little bit,_ " he spoke intending to go and make some food, getting a nod from Jungwoo in return and a smile from her upon eye contact. 

"You're so pretty," Jungwoo mumbled as he disappeared, every individual lash close enough to see as he dusted highlighter across her cheeks, his lips pursed in concentration. 

"I know, Ten's really pretty."

"Hm?" He stilled, brush held between his fingers as he tilted his head. "No, no, not Ten. You." His words were soft, as delicate as the breaths that fanned across her cheek from their proximity. "You're so pretty."

For a few seconds, the world stopped spinning on its axis and all she could think about was the beautiful visage inches away from her own. If she leant even a little bit closer, she would've been able to kiss him. 

But, of course, this wasn't her body to kiss other people in. "Thank you. You're really beautiful too."

She pretended not to see the slight flicker of disappointment that glossed over his features, instead reaching out and pinching his cheek. "Come on, you still have lipstick left."

Jungwoo nodded slowly, the disappointment disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, the brush dropped as he moved to hold onto her hands. "Yeah, which colour?"

It was then that Kun walked back in, lips parting to say that he had forgotten to take his phone when he paused, watching them both from the doorway. The affection in Jungwoo's eyes were unmistakable, the softening of his cocoa hues as he held her hands and subtle smile all too telling. 

But, to him, the most incriminating part was the slight dusting of rose on Jungwoo's cheeks, one that highly indicated an undercurrent of adoration. It was clear in the way his thumb rubbed over her knuckles for a few moments before he let go, fingers still resting on some part of her thigh as he talked animatedly. 

With a shake of his head, he quickly picked up his phone, laughing a little as he walked out of the room. What an absurd situation to be in.

* * *

It was while she was peacefully doodling, trying to figure out what kind of design would look best for the header she wanted, that her computer screen was taken over - the image of an incoming video call making her blink in surprise. 

'Huh?' She thought, trying to figure out who it could have been. Imani didn't have that particular profile picture either, nor the name. Plus they were also likely fast asleep with their usual nap that happened around this time. 

Deciding to answer it with her camera off, she spoke a 'hello', mouse hovering over the end call and with intent to shift to the block button right after. "Who's this?"

There was some rustling, the sounds of sheets being moved with another noise that sounded like breathing. "Hi," a soft voice spoke, one that instantly sparked recognition as she stared at the screen before the projected image shifted to one of a glowing and familiar face, "it's Jungwoo."

"Oh," she said, a little too surprised to think of anything else to say, "hi, Woo."

Brows knitted together as he moved closer to the camera, his eyes becoming a little crossed as he looked at the majority black screen on his phone. "Where are you? I can't see?" His whine was so full of betrayal and unhappiness that she couldn't help but laugh, turning on the camera at his pouted request. 

"Sorry, I had the camera off because I didn't know who was calling." He nodded, a gentle noise of understanding filling the air as he shuffled again, a duvet tucked under his chin as he looked at the camera with stars in his honeyed hues. 

"It's okay," Jungwoo smiled, the simper as delightful as ever, "you're you now? Not Ten?"

"Not Ten," she confirmed, fingers fiddling with the pencil in her hand as she felt a little self conscious about the slightly unkempt state of her clothes. She hadn't been expecting an idol to video call her after all. "You look happy. How has your day been?"

"It's okay," he hummed, rolling over a little so he was on his side instead of his front, now giving her a view of his large white T-shirt that clung to his shoulder for dear life. "I'm happy because I-" Jungwoo paused before his smile reached his eyes - illuminating them that much more, "because I can see you."

Scoffing, she couldn't believe she'd forgotten how much of a flirt he could be. "You're cute." Blowing a kiss to him, she only just missed the pink that tinted his ears, the dim lighting and his strands of hazel brown hair covering them. "What time is it for you?"

"Bed time."

The pen drummed against the table, the drawing being pushed to the back of her mind. "Shouldn't you be asleep then?"

"I want to talk to you." His response was buttery smooth and she would've thought he was flirting had he not had the exact same expression as always: a little dreamy with a good natured smile. "You and Ten are not swapping now."

"Not as much , yeah. Kind of thankful for that actually," she sighed, rocking back and forth on the chair, "it's really annoying when it happens."

"But it's fun, yeah?" 

"Only when you and the other guys are there. Otherwise I feel like a fool in front of random people and it's worse because it's Ten they're seeing."

Jungwoo laughed, the sound light and airy as some stray strands of hair accidentally flopped over his eyes. "Try to dance for czennies. Ten don't care."

"You're evil."

His giggles were sweet, muffled a little as he buried his chin into the pillow, shifting once more after propping up his phone. "Only little bit."

"A demon with an angel face, how fitting." She pushed aside the paper and shuffled around the desk drawers before pulling out a journal - a visibly used looking thing that has little doodles decorating the front. "I've been trying to learn Korean actually. I thought that if this was going to keep happening, I might as well try to be less helpless."

Plush lips formed a soft 'o', his interest piquing as he tilted his head, his aura exuding comfort and tranquility. "Tell me? I want to hear."

"My pronunciation might not be amazing." Waving away any of her concerns, he was visibly excited to hear her say something in his natural language. It certainly would make a massive improvement from their first meeting. "Okay, promise you won't laugh?"

"Ah, pinkie promise," he beamed, holding up the little finger and curling it, as if to reinforce his words. "Say... What is your favourite food."

" _My food favourite is_ um, cereal." While it wasn't necessarily true, it was the first thing she could think of. " _Is that okay?_ "

"Very good! But you said _food favourite_ and not _favourite food._ You have to-" he waved his hands before miming with two fingers, "swap!"

"Oh okay, got it. " _You are so pretty, Jungwoo. I like you._ " Instead of the little clap she had been expecting, she noticed that he was hiding his face a little more, though the smile was still painfully obvious. 

"Oh no. You said wrong," he mumbled, clearly a little flustered - a sight that was quite unlike the grand flirt himself. "You said 'I like you' but for boyfriend. Not friends."

"Oops," she laughed, brushing it off and writing it down, making sure to put a bold notation that it was romantic. "What's the friend one?"

" _I like you,_ " Jungwoo replied, recovering a little from the sudden confession (though, honestly? He didn't mind if she did mean it in the boyfriend way).

Scribbling down what he said, she put a small heart around it, lifting the journal up and showing him with a delighted expression, one that he mimicked as he mimed drawing a heart in the air also.

"But," she started, placing the book down with a soft thud, "the best part is being able to understand some of your songs now. " _I like your voice_ , it's so nice and soft. When is your solo coming?"

"My solo is just for you."

"You're such a flirt. Don't you get tired?"

"Nope. I love it."

"Clearly." 

The smile never seemed to drop from his face, always lingering on the corner of his lips as he talked to her. There never seemed to be an unfulfilled silence either, with Jungwoo either saying something else to start a conversation and listening eagerly to her speak, or the two existed in perfect harmony with nothing but the scratching of pen on paper or the gentle tapping of fingers on a screen. 

The minutes trickled by, before speeding up imperceptibly, rushing past before either of them could even hope to say where the time had gone. "Shouldn't you be sleeping now, woo?"

The more she looked at him, the more she could see the beginning of sleep coat his features, his eyelids drooping as he stifled a yawn behind his hand, playing it off when she raised an eyebrow at him. 

"No," he challenged, lips drawing into a soft but subtle pout, as though he was trying to convince her with nothing more than the cuteness he could exude. 

"Jungwoo, go to sleep. I'll still be here tomorrow, you know." His bottom lip jutted our just that slightest reaction further, but she wouldn't be swayed, not even when he made his eyes rounder and softer - begging her to drop it. " _You're so silly._ "

His mouth opened to say something, but was interrupted by light flooding in. Squinting, he turned around and began to speak, the words spoken too quickly and took quietly for her beginner brain to understand. 

Footsteps could be heard in the background and the image on screen shifted to just him, the covers creating a shadow over his face and a dimmer view. "I'm sleeping now. Bye bye!"

"Bye! Sleep well." The call ended a few seconds after that, the screen showing the ending screen as she sighed, smiling a little as she went back to the original doodle. Jungwoo really was an oddball.

* * *

Jungwoo: Hi ^^

Jungwoo: what are you doing???

MC: just some work? What about u?

Jungwoo: sitting with Xuxi and Taeyong T-T everyone is outside to eat

MC: u didn't go?

Jungwoo: no I'm a little bit sick

MC: ahh get well soon <333

MC: you can come and eat with me, i made some good dinner

Jungwoo: yes !!! I want to eat dinner with you

As he texted her, all his attention on the messages being exchanged and the hurried rush of him going to translating apps, Jungwoo barely noticed Ten walk in - a mischievous simper on his lips as he saw the younger man engrossed with his phone.

"Aw, who are you texting?" He near enough shouted, startling the poor man who looked up with wide eyes. " _Lemme see. Who's got Woo's attention?_ "

Red began to seep into his skin as he shook his head, pulling his phone away. " _Just a friend._ "

Parking himself right next to the brunette, he reached out to jokingly grab at his phone. " _Then why do you look so embarrassed? Don't worry, you can tell your hyungie._ "

" _Stop it._ " The whine came instantly, free hand pushing away Ten as the elder took pleasure in his annoyance and continued to harass him. " _Hyung, stop, you're so annoying._ "

" _Annoying?_ " Ten pouted, his hands cupping his face as he did so, the red on Jungwoo's cheeks only getting darker the closer he got. " _Me? Annoying? You're hurting my feelings._ "

Standing up quickly, Jungwoo took off before Ten could say a word, the tall man running down the hallway and slamming the door to his shared bedroom.

" _He has a crush,_ " Kun spoke as soon as Jungwoo had taken flight from the sofa, the fushia across his cheeks not going unnoticed. 

Ten blinked. " _A crush on me?_ " he asked ludicrously, unable to believe the nonsense coming out of Kun's mouth, "fuck off. _You're just saying stupid shit for the fun of it._ "

Kun rolled his eyes, though the amused curl of his lips didn't disappear. " _No, dumbass. On her, not you, but obviously he's only ever seen her in your body._ "

Oh, Ten thought. "Awkward."

"Yeah. _It's a little funny though. He'll get over it... Sometime soon hopefully._ "

Gasping, it suddenly clicked in Ten's mind and he was jumping up with enough speed that it startled Kun and made him take a step back. " _He was texting her! Aw, he was probably flirting._ " They both laughed at that and Ten looked down the corridor to where Jungwoo's room was, the door firmly closed to hide him from their prying eyes. " _I can't believe it's been nearly a year of this bullshit._ "

" _Me too. People have apparently started rumours that you now have stage fright._ " Ten groaned, flopping back against the sofa. " _It'll end soon, I guess._ "

Despite nodding, it was clear that Ten wasn't convinced, though there was nothing at all he could do about it. 

Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished the device out, looking at the screen to see that the woman of the hour had texted. 

MC: Guess what

Ten: what? 

MC: *image attached* 

MC: guess who's coming over to sk

Ten: omfg really?

Ten: thank fuck. finally. Now we can try and figure out this shit

Ten: you're coming when we have a few days off? Perfect

MC: yeah, I asked woo when u have the most days off consecutively and organised it around then

MC: you're one busy bastard

Ten: don't I know it 😵

MC: one thing though

MC: don't tell jungwoo! I want to surprise him

Ten: my lips are sealed 🤐 ur secret is safe with me

Ten: just tell me when u land and I'll arrange you a ride

MC: Nice, cya then soulmate

Ten: c u then <3


	3. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics during speech is korean and bold during speech is mandarin !

The crinkling of sweets being unwrapped was surprisingly loud considering her surroundings and the bass of the music that was reverberating through the walls. Yellow cellophane shimmered under the dim lights as she lifted it up to her eye and looked around, a golden sheen cast over the world. To put it in layman terms, she was fucking bored. 

Juice that she had stolen from the fridge was slowly becoming dull and tasteless, the stool also digging into her ass from how long she’d sat there on the island. Maybe she should have gotten up to talk to someone else, but she couldn’t be bothered quite honestly. The thought of going home and crashing on the sofa felt more appealing than anything right now, but alas, Imani was the designated driver for the night and they were nowhere to be seen. 

“Fucking hell,” she groaned, pulling out her phone instead to check the time. There was a text there from Imania. 

‘Imani: I’m w my gf rn.’

The reply had come through 5 minutes ago and clearly they weren’t planning on coming out from their hiding place anytime soon if their girlfriend was there. 

MC: okay, just don’t drink bro

Imani: wouldn’t think of it xx

MC: you better not or me and ur gf will jump you 

Imani: Rude. she would never do that to me

Imani: we’re gonna jump you instead

MC: shush

Reaching towards the juice again, she only just managed to take a gulp of it before she was shutting her eyes - a sudden bright light in her peripheral vision forcing her hand. But, of course, when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in someone's sleek kitchen, but in a room with a boatload of men who looked seconds away from turning feral and barking at each other. What a treat; she was back with NCT. And by the looks of it, that included all 23 of them. 

“Fucking hell,” she couldn’t help but utter, tutting a little to herself as she looked around. There was a camera planted right in front of them all, clearly recording with a few staff members milling around behind it, likely to make sure they weren’t doing anything too silly. Most likely, they were live right now. 

On her left was Johnny and on her right sat Jungwoo, though they both seemed to be pretty occupied with pointing accusatory fingers at the others around them, thankfully completely ignoring her for the time being. Good. She needed to get herself straight first before doing anything.

‘Just don’t do anything embarrassing,’ she thought, trying to figure out the game when she heard the word ‘mafia’. Even better…

“Jungwoo?” she said quietly, poking his thigh as he said something in a rushed and accusatory tone to Yuta, “Jungwoo, hello?”

“ _What’s up, hyung?_ ” He replied, turning to look at her with shining brown eyes, though still a little distracted by the noise of bumbling men. 

“Not hyung,” she corrected and his mouth opened to form a soft ‘o’, eyebrows furrowing together as he looked quickly at the camera and staff, both of which seemed more interested in the debate that was going off on the other side of the room between Yuta, Chenle and Kun. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, um-” He seemed to be struggling for words, not really knowing how to explain the disaster going on around them. How could he properly attempt to translate the fact that half of nct were losing their minds over being accused of being the mafia? Hell probably couldn’t even say it in korean if he wanted to. “One second.”

She watched as he turned to his right, nudging Yangyang with his elbow and getting his attention. “ _Yangyang-ssi, can you tell her what’s going on? I don’t know how to properly say it in english._ ”

“Wow, _she’s back again? _That’s, like, the worst timing ever.”__

“ _I know._ ” Jungwoo shuffled back so Yangyang could lean over, the scene mostly unassuming to people who didn’t know what was going on - which many of them didn’t.

“Hi,” Yangyang greeted.

“Hi.”

“So uhhh, basically…”

“Take your time.”

Yangyang glanced up at Jungwoo, realising how odd it looked for him to be basically crawling over the elder’s lap, all of them hunched over each other to whisper. “Man, this is so awkward.”

“Don’t worry,” Jungwoo patted his head, “ _just say it quickly before the staff thinks we’re being weird,_ ” he said as if they didn’t think that already. 

“Yeah, um, we’re basically all playing mafia and they’re arguing over whether or not it’s Yuta who’s the mafia. I don’t think it is, but I doubt these guys will believe that.”

“Right, I figured that much. Do you know what Ten was?”

“No, but he’s sus as hell. He was probably mafia too.”

“Okay, got it,” she looked around quickly, “how do I get to the bathroom?” Now that she thought about it, Ten’s bladder was bursting and she wanted to shake him aggressively by his shoulders for waiting till the last possible moment to go and use the toilet. 

“Uh-” 

“ _Go down the hall and it’s to the left,_ ” Jungwoo interjected helpfully.

“Down the hall and the one on the left,

She nodded, getting up and having to cross her legs for a moment. “Thanks. I’ll be back in .. I don’t know, 5 minutes.”

“Come quickly, you’re still playing!” Jungwoo said, waving her away with a bright smile before he was sucked back into the madness of the 6 other remaining participants.

Shuffling down the hallway wasn’t easy, though she made it within the stall and went about her business, pulling out his phone after cleaning her hands to give him a piece of her mind.

Ten (MC): Why didn’t you take a piss??? Holy shit I nearly died walking to the bathroom

MC (Ten): I was holding out until it ended. Didn't expect to swap or i would've gone 🤣

MC: are u at a party or smth? Smells like alcohol here

Ten: Yh. I was drinking juice 

MC: is Imani here?

Ten: Yh but they're with their girlfriend

MC: Damn...

MC: You mind if I go around flirting with people?

Ten: knock yourself out bro 

Ten: just don't sleep w or kiss anyone

MC: ofc

Ten: WAIT!

Ten: were u mafia or a civilian?

MC: yh uh i think it's kunhang and chenle rn, but I'm a normal person 😊 also swap places with woo so you're between him and Yangyang

Ten: got it. Make sure Imani doesn't drink, they're the driver 

MC: ur the boss. Ttyl

Ten: see you

MC: ttyl!

Now here came the challenge of winning the game while also only just understanding what they were doing. Though, she was never one to back down from a challenge. If anything, this was the perfect opportunity to put her korean to practise. 

'Hell yeah,' she thought, pointing a finger at 'herself' in the mirror, looking directly into the dark brown hues that reflected back. 'You're winning this shit!'

And whatever she put her mind to, she was of course going to do. 

Going back to the game, she sat between them both this time, Jungwoo happily shuffling to give her the room. She came back in the nick of time, the cycle turning to night. 

While the rest of them kept their eyes closed, both Jungwoo and Kunhang kept their heads up and selected Kun to kill off. And unfortunately for him, the doctor ended up 'saving' Jungwoo instead. 

Normally he would have gone straight for 'Ten', but he decided to keep her in just to see how far she would get. It was his little test to run. 

" _A new day! One of your fellow neighbours have just passed away, what a shame,_ " came the narration, the remaining 5 people staring hard at each other. 

The game continued, Chenle eliminated next with a loud and annoyed cry, his narrowed gaze aimed directly towards Kunhang - Jungwoo escaping the boy's wrath this time. That left only four more players. If they could get both her and Yuta to turn on eachother, they would have it in the bag.

But, like other things, not everything always went in his favour and Kunhang's clumsy excuse had him voted off immediately, Jungwoo reluctantly having to go with the majority. 

Even so, he was determined to win! He would win! 

Yet, when he turned to look at her, seeing her whisper to Yangyang as he translated their thoughts, he wasn't quite sure if winning was his priority anymore. 

Suddenly, he was barely bothered about carrying the game, fondness developing in his gaze as he heard her laugh at whatever the younger had said. 

The next day rolled around, the pressure on with just her, Jungwoo and Yuta left.

" _This makes or breaks the game. Make sure you think hard,_ " Johnny warned, using his presenter's voice to hammer in the severity. " _We wouldn't want the mafia to chop off your heads on the night now, would we?_ "

Yuta scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. " _I'm about 99.99% sure it's Woo,_ " he stated, unwilling to budge in his judgment, much to Jungwoo's chagrin. He could tell that she was swaying in Yuta's favour also. The glares piercing into his skin from the killed members weren't very helpful either.

“ _How could it be me when Yuta-hyung is still alive? I would’ve killed him already for accusing me the last 3 rounds,_ ” he pouted, resting his cheek on his palm in an attempt to win public favour over. Jungwoo also chose to ignore the looks everyone else was giving him - he just needed to lie and cheat his way out of this. 

That was his fatal mistake. “ _It’s Jungwoo,_ ” she said to which Yuta nodded in agreement, neither of them buying his awful attempt at diverting the blame. “ _Jungwoo is the mafia._ ”

“ _Yeah. Get this guy out of here._ ” And just like that, Jungwoo’s plan unravelled and the civilians won, roaring and cheering as he smiled through his shame. Kunhang, Jeno and Doyoung came over to batter him, hitting him and pretending to beat him up for making them lose - completely deserved honestly. Even so, he didn’t stop smiling, the regret barely a blimp on his radar until he caught Yangyang’s eye.

The message was clear and the gig was up, unfortunately for him, the ruse he put up wasn’t always effective and right now was one of those times. Nonetheless, he would sit down and happily take the loss knowing that she was laughing and giggling because of it. Jungwoo needed to work a little more on subtlety.

* * *

Ten hadn't had this much free in a long time. It was hard to miss something that he barely had the opportunity to do, but as he went around and flirted randomly with a multitude of people whose faces now blended together in his memory, he wished he had the chance to do it more often. 

There was something incredibly entertaining about charming people through his words instead of just his dancing and celebrity status. He'd still got it, it seemed. And the best part of it all was that he wouldn't get into any trouble for it. There was no cameras, no paparazzi waiting for him to slip up, no crazy people watching his every move. It was the most free he had felt in a long time. 

Sitting on the arm of a sofa he'd found, he excused himself from a conversation with a broad brunette man to check the phone, feeling it buzz in his pocket. 

Imani: yo

Imani: where U at right now?

Imani: I can't see you in the kitchen?

MC (Ten): yh I'm in some other room now

MC: btw I'm Ten right now 

Imani: did u swap or r u playing a dumb joke on me again 😑

MC: nope 😊 it's Ten

MC: that emoji is suspicious but i swear it's me 

Imani: okay I'll believe you this time

Imani: we're gonna go home in like 15 minutes

Imani: try and get to the front door, yeah? Just ask around if you can't find it

MC: understood👍🏼

Putting the phone away again, he turned back to the man, the guy clearly a little drunk from the way he swayed in his spot. Admittedly, he was rather hot, with a broad frame and a boyish face that screamed both youth and willingness to try whatever, and had he been in his own body, he would have considered going off with him, but alas, it didn't work like that and wouldn't ever. 

"Ah, I have to go now," Ten said, standing up and pouting a little, eyes twinkling mischievously under the coloured lights that flashed. "But could you do me one little favour? Just a small one, promise."

He held up his pinkie and the man linked his finger with his. "Yeah?"

"Could you show me the way to the front door? I would try and find it myself, but I'd feel better if you came with me."

Ten was well aware that flirting so brazenly with so many different people (both men and women alike) might come back to bite him in the behind, but he didn't give her number to them despite insistence so he deemed it good enough. Besides, he had her permission. What harm was a little sugary comment here and there?

The man nodded enthusiastically, using their joined hands to guide him through the crowds of people and through different rooms. Ten jogged a little to keep up with his pace, though at least the quick speed meant that he was at the front door within moments instead of minutes. 

“There!” He said, squeezing Ten’s hand and bouncing in one place like an excited puppy, “I got you to the door.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it, I’ll see you around?” That was a lie but it made him smile and nod enthusiastically. 

Ten made his way out, slipping past the people that swarmed the doorway and into the front garden, the cool air making the hair on his arms rise. And much like she had a gripe with him, his was that she’d decided to forgo wearing a coat. He looked around, squinting under the low light and found a lawn chair in the front that was unoccupied, his legs moving before he could even think his movements through.

And while the plastic wasn’t that comfortable, it was better than nothing. 

MC (Ten): Where r u?

Imani: Coming outside w Keiona

MC: Who’s that?

Imani: o right

Imani: My girlfriend

Imani: You’ve not met her before

MC: Nice I guess I’ll meet her now 

Imani: shes sweet dw bout it

He rocked back on the chair, looking up at the darkening sky and huffing, his breathing turning into little clouds that dissolved. For a few seconds, he let himself soak in the cold air on his skin, the ice numbing his throat and tickling the back of it before he opened his eyes again, only to see a hand directly above him. 

"Boo!"

The hand grabbed his face and he jumped, scrambling up only to realise his overreaction when he heard laughter. Expression deadpan, he stuck his tongue out at both Imani and the woman at his side. 

"You're so funny." 

"I like to think so too," Imani said, a shit eating grin on their face. "How did you get to the front so fast? Even Kei couldn't bring us out that quick."

"I got some guy to bring me to the front," Ten shrugged as he smiled at Keiona. She was definitely beautiful with wide brown eyes and long lashes that seemed to touch her cheeks when she blinked. She was rather tall, though dwarfed by Imani (as was everyone else in the world). "I guess you guys had fun then?" 

"A lot of fun," Keiona replied, laughing a little as she looked at him, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder affectionately. "I swear I saw you in the kitchen though? Did you move from there?"

Ten nodded. "I decided to make my own fun."

"Wow, you get around, don't you?" Imani teased and he grinned, shrugging nonchalantly, not denying nor confirming. There was enough said that Ten didn't feel the need to elaborate. "Let's go then."

Ten let them both walk in front of him, seeing Imani squeeze her hand affectionately before she walked away down the road, waving and saying bye to both of them. 

Once she was out of view, Ten jogged to reach Imani. "Doesn't she need a lift home?"

"Nah, she lives two houses down from here, she's probably already in bed now," they replied, opening up the car doors and getting in, Ten following to sit in the front passenger seat. 

It had a nice homely scent, tinged with the perfume that he assumed Keiona had been wearing before it wore off in the mayhem of the party.

"So," Ten started, looking at the new little dashboard decoration of a bobbing flower. "Did you start dating recently?" Ten asked as the lights from the lamp posts reflected off of the car's hood. "I don't think you've ever mentioned her before."

"Kinda yeah. I've liked her for a while, but only recently got the balls to ask her out," they laughed, speeding up further along the road and turning a corner. "She's really nice."

"I can tell," Ten replied, a natural silence falling after. 

He didn't really mind, instead choosing to look out of the window and watch the unfamiliar roads rush by. The streets were similar yet so different to the roads in Seoul, possessing the same sterile city aura yet having its own identity separate to whatever he thought of it. 

Sighing a little, he slumped into the seat and looked again at the phone, not seeing any more texts. 

"Oh yeah, she's going to Korea next week. Shame I can't come, honestly."

"You can't? I thought you two came as a package deal."

"Honestly, we would've but I have to go visit family. Ma's been telling me to go back and I can't put it off anymore." Imani shook their head solemnly, the engine humming smoothly under foot. 

Ten pursed his lips. "Honestly, I have no clue what we would do when she gets there anyway. None of us have any idea on how to get it to stop."

His expression was mirrored, their cheeks puffing out a little. "Well, I guess you can always google it. Or naver it, whatever the hell you use."

"Huh, I'll try but what the hell would I even type? 'How to swap back to my own body?'" Ten groaned melodramatically, hanging his head. "I can try and get Kun to look over it too, he's good with this shit."

"Why?" They were biting back a clear smile. "Cuz he's a magician?" 

Ten's eyes rolled, though he couldn't stifle his smile either. "Exactly why." 

Their conversation flowed without much effort, Ten feeling as though he was talking to his own best friend with how comfortable he felt talking to them. 

It barely took more than ten minutes before they were pulling up at her house, Imani stopping just outside as Ten undid the seatbelt and grabbed the handle. "Thank you."

"Don't sweat, just text me if you need anything "

Getting inside didn't take too long, the key in his front pocket and he didn't feel hungry either. If anything, he was just a little tired - though that was just routine for most people. However, he had something else on the mind that he wanted to investigate.

Ten turned on the computer, the fans starting to whir as he logged in and headed right to vlive. They were nearing the end of the game, only three people left and he watched, enraptured. It was oddly fun to watch ‘himself’ play in the game and he was surprised that she’d managed to get that far. 

However, as he watched, he noticed that Jungwoo kept looking over at her, his gaze more often than not drifting to his left even when he was being asked to speak. It wasn’t anything hugely noticeable, though it was glaringly obvious to him. The story continued to progress, the game coming to its climax with only three people and then that’s when Ten saw, with his own two mortal eyes, just how the mighty had fallen. 

Watching Jungwoo lie so obviously through his teeth was humbling, the deceit crumbling with the slight scrutiny and it was abundantly clear that he was the supposed mastermind behind the game. ‘What the hell is he doing?’ Ten couldn’t help but think, mouth agape as the other two voted him out without a second thought. He was bewildered; How could Jungwoo, someone known to be able to lie his way through anything with a sweet face and cool tone, be caught out so easily?

Alas, the answer was clear as soon as he saw Jungwoo get up from his deserved smackdown. It was hardly noticeable really, not unless you were looking closely at him and the way his features softened as soon as he turned to her. Jungwoo went over to her, taking her hand and holding it with a bright smile on his lips. It was cute, but it was also very weird for Ten. 

But, then again, what about all of this wasn’t weird…

* * *

MC: Hi

MC: That flight felt like a billion fucking years

MC: I managed to get here in one piece . somehow

Ten: You landed?

MC: Yeah

Ten: Okayyy I’ll send u a taxi?

MC: Please?

Ten: 😊

Ten: it’s otw

MC: Thank you

Ten: No worries 😘

She groaned, putting her phone away and rolling her shoulders to try and get rid of the heaviness within her bones. Going on long flights were always physically draining, even if the most you did was sit down for hours upon end. Yawning a little, she looked up at the signs to try and figure out her way to the exit, the korean mixing with the english as she tried to read it. It was only after she blinked multiple times that the letters started to make sense and she began to walk in the direction it was pointing in. 

Stopping midway to the exit, she decided to get a bottle of water (despite knowing she would be laying down half her savings on the damn thing, but thirst had no concept of financial limits). She bought it without looking at the price, fearing for her wallet otherwise, and exited the store to try and drink it.

Though, like every other time when she was in the middle of doing something, the universe decided right there and then that it would be a good choice to make everything turn to black and send her whirling through the cosmos into someone else’s body. 

This time wasn’t quite the same as others, instead she felt warm and there was a quiet purring from on top of her. Honestly, his body felt a lot more at ease than hers did and she found herself burrowing deeper into the warm feeling. 

“ **Ge, are you asleep?** ” Someone spoke, her eyes cracking open as she saw Kunhang on the floor with a brown cat on his back. “Hello? Are you asleep or not?”

“ **If he’s not replying, take a guess which one it would be.** ”

“ **Who asked you? Go put a shirt on.** ”

“ **Are you in love with me or wh-** ”

“What are you guys talking about?” She cut in, deciding she didn’t really feel like listening to them argue in chinese. “I’m not asleep.” Sitting up, she heard a meow and saw a white and brown cat sat on her legs, their tail swishing back and forth. “So cute, what’s his name?”

“Oh. You’re not Ge.”

“Nope.”

Reaching down, she stretched out her hand to pet them, smiling happily when they rolled onto their back to let her do so. 

“His name is Louis, and that’s Leon. I think I told you about them before,” Yangyang said, getting up from the opposite bed and sitting at the end of Ten’s, his fingers running through Louis’ fur and stroking his ears. “What were you doing this time?”

“Was just outside, poor Ten’s going to land in a tired body. If he calls to cuss me out, pretend I’m not here.” Yangyang laughed, his large grin tempting Kunhang into getting up too and coming over to investigate. “I much prefer hanging out with cute cats instead.”

“I think Ten does too,” Kunhang replied, holding Leon like a baby for a moment before putting him over his shoulders. “You want us to call, uh, Jungwoo-hyung?”

She looked at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows, unsure why he’d brought Jungwoo up. “Jungwoo? Why?”

“Because he likes hanging out with you,” came a cryptic reply and a cat to her chest, Leon plopped down on top of her with his tail right in her face. “He’s free, I think.”

Yangyang got up, his eyes narrowing a little and it would have been unnoticeable had she not been looking at him anyway. Deep brown bore into her own eyes, and she felt like squirming under the stare. “You like him, right?”

“Uh, yeah…? He’s really nice.” 

And apparently, that was all they needed, both of them turning to the other and saying something too quickly for her to understand. 

“Wait here and we’ll call him.”

Before she could even ask them anything, they were rushing out of the room and closing the door behind them, leaving her in the dust with the two cats that seemed to really like laying on top of her and lounging around - not that she minded in the least. 

“Hey Leon, hey Louis,” she cooed, smiling brightly when Leon rubbed his cheek against her hand and purred, eyes closed before coming to curl up under her chin. “Hopefully you’ll still like me this much when I’m back in my own body.”

However, when she heard the phone buzzing on the bedside table, she knew that the moment of luxury was up (for now anyway).

MC (Ten): I hate you 

MC: You’re so fucking sore

Ten (MC): And you’re so fucking comfy xx

MC: 🙃🙃🙃

MC: Glad one of us is enjoying the swap

Ten: very much. Ur cats are so cute, I might steal them 

MC: you gotta get through me for that 😘

Ten: I will

MC: okay but where tf am I

Ten: in the airport near the exit

Ten: take my luggage too

Ten: its a brown suitcase near ur hand

MC: okay got it

MC: good thing I called the taxi already

MC: where shall I go then?

Ten: To the hotel, please? Just put my stuff away, the address is ******** 

MC: Got it 👍

MC: I’ll see you in a bit then. I’ll go over to the dorm after I finish

MC: and get a damn chiropractor too -_-

Ten: You love me

MC: whatever 

Meanwhile as she was sinking into the bed with the purring of cats to lull her deeper into comfort, the men outside the door were scheming. 

“ **Ge, hey!** ” Yangyang exclaimed, almost barreling into poor Kun who was minding his own business on the sofa. “ **Can you call Jungwoo-hyung?** ”

Kun stared at him with visible confusion in his eyes, shuffling along the sofa a little so he wasn’t about to be smothered. “ **Why do you want me to call him?** ”

“ **We don’t have his number,** ” Kunhang added in and Kun gave them both a weird look. “ **It’s because she’s back.** ”

“ **Why didn’t you just say that?** ” Tutting at them, Kun headed into his messages, the two youngers looking over his shoulder at what he was doing. 

Kun (to Jungwoo): Woo are you free?

Jungwoo replied surprisingly fast, his response coming within a minute.

Jungwoo: Yeah I’m free

Jungwoo: What’s up? 😊

Kun: do you want to come over?

Jungwoo: can I play with the cats?

Kun: u don’t even need to ask that

Jungwoo: then yeah. I’m otw now

Kun: already ??? 😕😕

Jungwoo: ㅋㅋㅋ I was dressed already, just had nowhere to go 

Kun: ur prepared 😂 come quickly

“ **There we go,** ” Kun said, a slightly smug smile on his lips. “ **He’ll be here within 10 minutes.** ”

* * *

Ten moved through the airport, holding tightly onto the suitcase and dragging it behind him. Just his luck that as soon as he finally got a chance to sit in his bed and sleep, that he would be sent into a body that was aching from hours upon hours of flying. “Fuck,” he grumbled, going through the exit gates and letting out a loud sigh as he looked at the virtually endless car park.

‘Where am I supposed to find the car in this?’ He thought, frowning slightly as he looked around, pulling the luggage harder and rushing towards the entrance of the parking. 

MC (Ten): Where are you?

MC: I dropped off the luggage and stuff

Ten (MC): I’m out with Jungwoo right now 

MC: Ok, are u gonna go back to my dorm or his?

Ten: He asked if I want to go to his

MC: Yeah that’s fine, I know the code to theirs anyway

MC: I’ll be in his place

MC: cu whenever u decide to come back

Ten: blame jungwoo 

MC: I will

MC: also can you text the gc to say that i’ll be going over

MC: It’s called slut cafe

MC: They’re gonna think I’m some stalker otherwise

Ten: one sec

Ten: They said okay

Ten: also what sort of name is that tf

MC: 😙😙

MC: don't ask me, jaehyun changed the name 

Ten: jaehyun…. I wasn't expecting that

MC: neither were any of us 

MC: okay, I'll be going over there now, c u later

Ten: for sure

Putting his phone back in his pocket, he looked at the outside of the hotel from the window, nearly pressing his face against the glass to see further. The area was easily recognisable and he didn't think it was worth getting another taxi when he could walk; it was a 20 minute walk at most. In the end, he decided on walking there since he wasn’t sure how much money she had on her and he didn’t quite fancy the hassle of going to a bank or being short of money.

And his mission began when he approached the building, knowing that he would have to go in quickly. Slinking in through the back, he made sure to hide his face with the mask to avoid being seen by any of the people that also lived there or happened to be loitering. The last thing they needed was for there to be breaking news of a dating scandal. 

Going upstairs, he ran up the steps and escaped making eye contact with anyone there, keeping to himself as he went up the floors before finally getting to the 5th. Like hell he was going up five more flights of stairs; they could come to him!

Ten looked around, seeing that the coast was clear, and knocked on the door - making sure to also press the doorbell multiple times in rapid succession. Apparently they had all switched souls with snails with how long it was taking someone to answer the door.

Finally, after an agonising minute of being stood outside, the door finally cracked open the tiniest sliver, revealing only an eye looking through the gap. He squinted, trying to figure out who it was.

“Shotaro?” He asked, the boyish face clicking in his mind. “ _Can you let me in, please? It’s your Ten-hyung._ ”

Though, just as soon as he had opened his mouth, the door slammed in his face and he was back to square one - staring again at the closed door.

"Are you fucking with me?" He blurted out, bewildered at what had happened before he started jamming his finger onto the doorbell again, pressing it with the speed known only to exist within the realms of an annoyed Ten. "Open the door!"

Thankfully, the door did open again within two minutes after Ten had pressed the button so many times he was sure that his fingerprint was embedded on the plastic. This time, however, Instead of Shotaro greeting him, it was Doyoung. And thankfully, he didn’t close the door in his face.

“Ten?”

" _God yeah, it's me. Let me in before the dogs come and get my ass._ "

Doyoung looked rightfully bewildered. It was one thing to hear of them swapping bodies and to see it happen occasionally in Ten's body, but to see the other person involved and have them speak to him like Ten was disconcerting to say the least. 

" _Are you really Ten?_ " Doyoung asked, eyes narrowing as he looked into his eyes, meeting hues that were very different to the normal slight slant of Ten's. 

" _Yes....? Did she not text the group chat?_ "

He sighed, moving back to let him walk in. " _...She did,_ " he almost muttered, looking over Ten as his eyebrows knitted together, " _It's just really fucking weird._ "

" _Don't I know it,_ " Ten replied, taking off his shoes and putting up the jacket to go and flop on the sofa, Doyoung staring at him all the while. 

He picked up the remote, about to change the channel when he felt them a billion eyes burning into him.

" _You know if you're gonna stare, you might as well do it now and get used to it now before she comes back and you make it weird,_ " Ten remarked, their eyes averting almost instantly at his words and instead at the TV that was playing some random anime that one of them had picked out. Clearly he was right, though it was still bizarre to have (what looked like) a random woman walk in and act like she had been part of the group since even before their debut.

“ _So Jungwoo likes yo- her?_ ” Yuta asked, coming to sit down beside him though still keeping some distance out of instinct. “ _Huh, she is pretty._ ”

“ _I’ll say thanks on her behalf,_ ” Ten said, turning to look at him and finding it incredibly amusing when he jumped a little. “ _This is kind of fun, actually. Are the rest of them coming here soon?_ ”

“ _Yeah, the guys from the tenth floor are just having dinner right now. The dreamies and WAYV are coming now,_ ” Taeyong leant on the edge of the sofa, cat-like hues running over his face before settling on looking into Ten’s eyes. 

However, Ten barely noticed, instead gasping loudly like he had been struck, a hand covering his mouth dramatically. “Oh my god,” he muttered as Taeyong frowned, about to ask if he was hurt before Ten crawled on his hands and knees on the sofa, only a couple of inches away from Taeyon’s face. “ _Will Louis and Leon even recognise me?_ ” His face scrunched up, pure pain in his expression, “what if they don’t come to me anymore? I’ll start fucking crying.”

Taeyong blinked, now no doubt in his mind that this was in fact, Ten. Only he could look so hurt at the prospect of his cats running away from him.

“That’s literally a punishment worse than hell,” Ten groaned, covering his face with his arm as they all gave him weird looks for his theatrics. “ _Can you tell Kun to bring one of them? Please?_ ”

“Sure,” Johnny said, already texting Kun and getting a reply of ‘okay.’ “But I think the bigger issue is trying to get your own body back, not whether your cats recognise you.”

“They don’t have to be exclusive.” Ten glared at him and Johnny held up his hands in surrender before bursting into laughter and nudging Ten. “This entire thing is bullshit.”

“I know, but you might as well have fun with it.” Johnny shrugged, clearly just trying to cheer him up, though he had no idea of what devil he had just unleashed (though judging by the shiver that ran down their spines, they all seemed to sense it).

“You’re right,” Ten smiled, a cheshire smile growing on his lip. “I’ll have fun with this, _even more now since I’m here and not on the other side of the world._ ”

And the next few hours were, 100%, without a doubt, Johnny’s fault.

Ten had spent his time hovering around the living room and kitchen, jumping out at the members that passed by and scaring the piss out of them, only stopping when the doorbell rang and the rest of the group began to pour in, all of them scurrying inside and hiding their faces from anyone outside. Slowly, but surely, the entire dorm was filled with the 21 odd people who had come over.

“ _Did you bring them?_ ” Ten said, running over to the man and startling him, the front pack showing a head of brown hair and ears twitching. “ _Let me see him._ ”

Kun glanced at the others, everyone either shrugging or hiding a smile behind their hand. “ _One second, I don’t know if he’s going to recognise you though._ ”

“ _Plan my funeral if he doesn’t,_ ” Ten said, earning a scoff and an eye roll from Kun, though he didn’t comment further. He shrugged off the bag and opened it up, picking up Leon as Ten lit up, the gloom disappearing from his aura as he saw the cat.

The whole group formed a circle, wanting to see the outcome. 

“Leon,” he cooed, holding out his hand for the cat to inspect, “do you remember me?” 

Leon pawed at the hand, sniffing at his fingers curiously. Ten moved his hand to pet him, about to touch his fur when he meowed, walking towards him and nuzzling his head into Ten’s palm, purring softly.

“Yo, how the fuck did you do that?” Mark exclaimed, squatting down as Ten picked Leon up, hsi smile blinding as he fussed over his cat. “They always run from me when they see me, and you can get Leon to hug you in a girl’s body? That’s not fair.”

“ _Maybe you should try and be more attractive to cats,_ ” Donghyuck snarked, earning a round of muted laughter that had Mark glaring at them, his ears tinted red. “ _Maybe he somehow knows it’s hyung? But that’s weird._ ”

“ _Who knows? Cats can sense weird things,_ ” Sicheng shrugged, smiling slightly at how delighted Ten was that ‘his baby didn’t forget him’ and ‘of course, he wouldn’t forget him. He’s his dad.’ 

Mark stood back up again, the rest of them deciding it was best to leave ten to his own antics (and also to avoid him should they be subject to anymore of his irritating pranks). 

Nonetheless, he was inescapable and after giving Leon to Jisung to fuss over, he was looking around for his next victim.

“Hey Yangyang,” Ten said, parking himself on the sofa right beside him as he scrolled on his phone, looking at videos posted on tiktok. “Do you know where she and Jungwoo are?”

Yangyang looked up, subtly scooting away (the action not unnoticed by Ten) and shaking his head. “No. I think Hyung said they were gonna go out to look at, like, a park or something.”

Nodding, Ten moved closer again - finding it funny that he was squirming and avoiding looking at him. “You know you can’t like her, right?”

“...Huh?”

“Jungwoo will beat your ass.”

Yangyang scrunched up his nose, shoving Ten away roughly. “I don’t! And no he wouldn’t.”

“He would. You don’t know a man in love.”

“You say that like you do. He’s too nice.”

“Didn’t know you became besties.”

The younger man tutted, already done with his shit. “Ge, leave me alone. You’re annoying in your body and in hers.”

Ten opened his mouth, about to retort when Kun spoke up too. “ _Yeah, you’re being extra obnoxious today._ ”

His face dropped, his eyes rounding into a puppy-like gaze that had Kun blinking one, twice and then a third time in surprise. His entire aura flipped, resembling that of someone who’d just had their feelings crushed with a stone cold fist. “Obnoxious?” he repeated, voice small and hurt, bottom lip trembling in a way that had Kun’s blood pressure shooting through the roof almost instantly. “Sorry…”

Kun looked around nervously, not knowing what to do. Had they swapped back right then? What kind of awful timing was that?! “Ah, s-sorry,” he said, awkwardly patting his shoulder, “you’re… not annoying.”

And within that split second, Ten’s expression switched back and he grabbed Kun’s hand between both of his own. “ _Aww, how nice of you to admit it, gege! You love me, don’t you?_ ”

Kun’s look of disgust was rightful, and his hand jerking away was an act of righteousness (though the laughter that echoed around him felt like damnation). “ **Fuck off, I can’t wait till you swap back permanently.** ”

* * *

“Do you want to go to the 10 floor or 5?” Jungwoo asked, “I live on number 10, but this one is closer.” 

“Number 5, I’m too lazy to go up anymore stairs,” she said and he nodded understandingly, also sharing that same sentiment after having walked around for over an hour to different parks and tourist spots. “Do you know the code?”

“Yeah, everyone knows the codes.”

She stood behind him, resisting the urge to rest her forehead on his back and go to sleep; Ten’s bed was sounding very good right about then and she was thinking of whether she could lay on the sofa and knock out.

Though, as soon as Jungwoo opened up the door, the sound of her own voice completely took that away and she was almost racing to get inside. 

“ _Huh? Who brought a girl home?_ ” Jungwoo frowned, looking at her as she rushed in.

Her response only made his brows furrow further. “ _I did._ ”

“Wha-”

Jungwoo followed behind her after he shut the door, only to completely stop in his tracks as soon as he saw the scene in front of him, there she was, there Ten was, standing directly in front of each other with a look of wonder reflected in both their eyes. 

“What the fuck,” one of them muttered.

“What the fuck seconded.”

Ten reached out, poking her cheek (his cheek) and laughed in delight, squishing it again. “Damn, I have nice skin.”

“You do, and wow, I’m definitely hotter from your point of view,” she said, looking immensely pleased with how she looked. “You didn’t change?”

“No, I just came straight here instead.” Ten walked around her, looking at his body from every angle. “Wow, I would f-”

“Okay!” Jungwoo interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. “ _Since when did you come here?_ ”

“ _Today, we swapped while she was in the airport._ ” Jungwoo glanced at her and she nodded, giving him a sweet smile. 

“ _Surprise! Sorry it’s a little bit wrong._ ”

Brown eyes switched from Ten to her and back again multiple times before a smile broke out onto his face, cheeks almost splitting as he reached out to pull her into a tight hug, giddy laughter filling the air. It was sweet and wholesome, Jungwoo’s affection the clearest in that moment if it hadn’t been blatantly obvious before. 

“Cute, but weird,” Ten commented and the others beside him nodded in agreement. “So, _does anyone have any ideas on how to swap back?_ ”

“ **Maybe you should spend a few hours together? See if that can get it to stop,** ” Yukhei suggested, earning sounds of approval from the members that understood him. “ **Go do that now!** ”

Nodding, Ten took her hand and ushered her into one of the bedrooms to cover her up properly to avoid being recognised. Jungwoo pouted a little, catching Taeyong’s eye.

“ _Can I go too?_ ”

“ _Why?_ ”

“ _Just…_ ”

Taeyong chuckled and Jungwoo pulled up his hood, hiding his face and red ears after realising that he sounded like a lovesick child. “ _Maybe next time, Zeus,_ ” he said, patting the taller man’s head as he burrowed deeper into his hoodie. How embarrassing.

Henceforth, he was left to simmer in his own shame while both she and Ten went to get boba and do nothing for a good few hours. 

And do nothing they did apart from wandering around and dipping in and out of different places just for the sake of wasting time. It was exactly what she had done with Jungwoo just a few hours earlier.

After instructing her to wait outside while he ordered for the both of them, she was tasked with finding a hiding place that was out of anyone’s view, eventually finding a table that was obscured under a large parasol and gangly branches from nearby trees. If anyone was watching them, it would have been hard to see them through the shrubbery.

He only took a few minutes to come out, holding two large drinks and running under the branches. 

“You’re gonna need the bathroom after you drink that.”

“Don’t underestimate my bladder size.”

“Yeah, it’s the size of a pea apparently.”

Ten stuck his tongue out. “You don’t need to be jealous.”

They sat down at the table, perfectly out of anyone’s eyeline and in a comfortable quiet that could have only come from experiencing each other so intimately. Though, even after spending so long together, neither of them felt as though they were going to swap back anytime soon. That in itself was immensely frustrating, though there was something else on Ten’s mind.

“Be honest, do you like Jungwoo?” He asked, looking closely at her as he took a sip of his drink, chewing a little on the straw as he waited for her reply. “I won’t laugh, promise.”

“Why would you even laugh in the first place?” She deadpanned, threatening to spit a boba pearl at his face. “And.... Yeah, I guess I do.”

Raising a brow, it was Ten’s turn to threaten her with the pearl, even spitting it next to her hand as she groaned, kicking his shin from under the table. “You’re only bruising your own leg,” was his warning that only earned another kick in the same spot. “So you do?”

“Yeah, but I doubt it would go anywhere.”

“You know idols date in secret all the time? Half of the guys have had partners without anyone ever finding out.”

“Did you forget I live on the other side of the world?”

“That just means the media would never find out, and you’ve worked with that so far. We’ve all seen the amount of times you’ve called and you’re not even officially together.”

She was quiet, poking at her drink and it was easy to tell she was thinking hard about it. It wasn’t a simple thing to do, to allow yourself to fully fall for someone that felt like they were a million miles out of your reach. 

“I don’t know…”

A warm hand reached out to squeeze hers, encouragement staring back at her. “He’s a real romantic at heart, honestly. You should go for it, and if it doesn’t work out then you still have a friend in all of us. I don’t think Yangyang will stop spamming you with stupid memes anytime soon.”

At this, she couldn’t help but laugh. It was true that Yangyang did like to send her a tonne of things that he found funny, and she was always happy to reply to them with commentary and her own images. “He’s cute - reminds me of an overeager puppy, but you’re right. If we can figure out how to stop this, then I’ll give him flowers and ask him out.”

“That’s cute. Give him a kiss too.”

“You’re so annoying, has anyone ever told you that?”

Ten shook his head, a shadow of a grin on his lips. “Not really, no.”

* * *

It seemed that spending hours together wasn’t the answer as the next day, even after they had gone to sleep, they were still in eachother’s body with no signs of changing back anytime soon. The longest that they’d ever gone before returning to normal was 2 days and that in its lonesome was an absolute disaster; they did not need a repeat. 

“You picked a boring outfit,” she commented as soon as Ten waltzed in through the front door, sitting down beside her while she still remained in his sleepwear. “You couldn’t have worn something cuter?”

“You’re walking around in pajamas, don’t talk about fashion,” came his reply before he started to fix her hair, his eyebrows knitting together as he smoothed down the messy strand. “Did you even brush my hair?”

“Yeah, but I was trying to chase Louis and it got fucked up.”

Jungwoo blinked, looking up from his phone as he looked at them both, with her now adjusting the way he had worn the jewellery. “ _They’re like Louis and Leon grooming each other._ ”

“ _I know, they’re kinda like a couple,_ ” Taeil shrugged, propping his feet into Jungwoo’s lap and ignoring when he tried to shove them away (subsequently also not seeing the pout on the taller man’s lips). “ _Hey, do you guys have any ideas for today? It didn’t work yesterday, apparently._ ”

Removing his fingers from her hair, Ten shrugged. “ _Not really. Do any of you guys have any ideas?_ ”

" _Have you tried kissing?_ " Jeno suggested offhandedly, not really meaning it though putting it on the table for them to pick at anyway. 

The reaction was clear and succinct. " _I would rather choke._ " Ten summed up rather perfectly. 

" **But have you tried it?** " Sicheng asked, impervious to the sharp looks of irritation that were nailing into him. "You should try."

"N-" Shouting and clambering began to start and they both knew there was no way they would be able to escape. "Fucking hell, okay."

22 pairs of eyeballs stared at them as they awkwardly faced each other. 21 in wide eyed curiosity and 1 in displeasure. 

The peck was quick and incredibly forced, both of them shutting their eyes tight as they parted almost the second their lips touched and to no one's surprise: still in each other's body. 

“That’s a bit too far with the self love,” she commented, Ten shoving her lightly as she laughed. “Never doing that again.”

“ _Any other suggestions?_ ”

A wretched smile made Yuta’s lips curl upwards, his hands forming a mini megaphone around his mouth. “ _Have you tried sleeping toge-_ ”

“ _Someone get him out of here,_ ” Ten said, rolling his eyes as a pillow was thrown at Yuta’s head, Jungwoo’s glare only adding further insult to his injury. “Does anyone have any other good ideas?”

It was Jaemin who spoke this time. “ _Are you in love with each other?_ ”

“Huh? No. _Are you joking?_ ” She said as Jaemin pursed his lips and shook his head.” _I don’t love Ten._ ”

“ _I’m not in love with her either. And I said good, not stupid._ ” Jaemin deflated as Chenle snickered at him, pulling on his ear before getting pulled into a headlock. “ _This isn’t a romance anime._ ”

An elbow lodged itself into Jungwoo’s ribs, forcing him to look over and see that it was Kun who was so graciously elbowing him. “ _You can’t say the same, can you?_ ”

Spluttering, he tried to deny what was said, though failed miserably as he saw Kun's dimpled grin. They just seemed to be targeting him constantly (though justifiably) and he couldn't say he was a fan. 

Thankfully, he was given a distraction - but by no means a very nice one. “ _Might as well be a romance anime,_ ” Renjun added, “ _they were acting like soulmates like 10 minutes ago._ ”

" _Don't they look like it?_ " Donghyuck agreed, Jungwoo's frown only deepening. Couldn't they just hurry it up?

His wish came true only a couple of minutes later, the duo having had enough of acting like puppets and deciding to give up for the day. If it wasn't going to happen now, it would surely happen later. 

"You want to go to my room?" Jungwoo said at the first opportunity he had to steal her away, his eyes pleading with her as he bounced on the heels of his feet. "I can show you my snoopy toy collection."

"Yeah, let's go. There's too many men here." He wasted no time in weaving them both through the crowds and out of the door, desperate for his own time with her. 

Kun waited till they both had disappeared to pat Ten's shoulder to get his attention. " _He was so bothered._ "

" _I know. I almost felt bad for him._ "

" _Almost? Sadist._ "

Ten shrugged insincerely. " _They both like each other anyway, why not push his buttons?_ "

" _Careful, he might hear you laughing._ "

" _As if, he's too busy making googly eyes._ "

They burst into another round of laughter at poor Jungwoo's expense, though for good reasons; it was pretty hilarious to see the mild mannered man fume silently.

* * *

No matter how long Jungwoo stared up at his ceiling, he couldn't find it within himself to close his eyes and try to sleep. For over an hour now he had been sighing to himself, convinced that somehow he would exhaust himself into closing his eyes, though that clearly wasn't the solution. 

Rolling over onto his side, he reached blindly for his phone, grabbing it from under the pillow and bringing it to his face - the light burning his eyes and forcing him to squint. 

Something about what Renjun had said had been bugging him, squirming inside his brain as he tried to understand what it was that ate away at him. 

Soulmates, he thought, soulmate, soulmate, soulmate! 

The word echoed, bounced, tormented until finally, it clicked! It was something so innocuous, so easily forgotten that it was no wonder it had slipped his mind for so long. 

Almost frantically, he began to look through his emails, scrolling down absurdly far to scavenge for gold that he knew was buried there. 

The white of the screen continued to burn his pupils, but he was too focused on his digging. What was a few dirty fingernails here and there?

And there it was, printed in bold letters that held the weight in precious metal of both his sanity and that of two other people's: 'Fortune teller service' 

"Shit!" 

Jumping up, he didn't bother to change his clothes as he stumbled out of his room, closing the door in the darkness before running down the corridor. Shoes were shoved on clumsily and they were surely mismatched with the way one of them didn't fit his foot properly. He didn't have it within himself to check while he fumbled with the keys and unlocked the front door, not did he flinch when he accidentally shut the door a little too loudly. It was fine though, the guys on the tenth floor could sleep through the apocalypse.

He rubbed his arms for heat as he stood outside of the building, looking around for any taxi's before luckily spotting one and flagging it down. It wasn't a long walk, though the sky was too dark for him to want to make his way over by foot. 

Before long, he was standing outside of the wayv dorm in his half arsed state, waiting impatiently to be let in. 

The doorbell rang twice before the door was jerked open, his hand hovering in midair before he awkwardly dropped it. 

" _You're here so late,_ " Kun muttered, hair sticking up as he stifled a yawn. " _You here for her?_ "

He had the decency to look sheepish. " _Yeah. I have something important to show._ "

Kun didn't ask what it was, only stepping aside to let him in. " _Just be quiet, everyone's asleep._ "

" _Will do, thanks Hyung._ "

" _It's okay. The key's there if you need it. Lock the door._ " Kun slinked out of view, returning to his room to go back to sleep while Jungwoo made his way to Ten and Kunhang's shared room. Though this time, he was a lot more gentle with the door. 

"*Hey, are you awake?*" he whisper yelled, seeing a faint light come from her bed. 

"Jungwoo?" She mumbled, groggy and eyes full of promised sleep as she propped herself up on her elbow. The video on her phone was paused and he presumed she was unable to sleep like him too. "What are you doing?"

A glance to his side told him that Kunhang was still fast asleep, buried under his thick duvets and stuffed toys. He moved to her bed, sitting on the edge and bringing his legs onto it, sitting cross legged as she shuffled to accommodate him. 

"I remembered something," he whispered, black strands of hair falling over his eyes as he pulled out his phone. "I think it's why you and Hyung swap."

"What's it?" 

Warm fingers reached out to touch his arm, his choice of wearing a short sleeved black shirt coming back to bite him as he swallowed down his thick saliva. Her head leant against his arm and he had to remind himself that this wasn't her body, that it was technically Ten and that he should try to relax a little. 

"Like, uh, one year ago I sent a message to a - how do you say- a fortune teller!" He exclaimed a little too loudly and he blushed as she shushed him, "and I asked to find my soulmate."

For a split second he looked into her eyes, almost afraid of what he would see, and the lump in his throat grew when he saw unadulterated affection. Ten never looked at him like that, but she did. 

"For real? Do you have the message?"

"Yeah, but it's korean."

"Can you put it in translate? I'm too tired to try and figure it out." 

He nodded quickly, fingers flying over the screen as he copied and pasted the response into the translator before handing his phone to her, letting her see what it had to say. 

'Fortune Teller: 

Thank you for your order Kim Jungwoo-ssi! I have attached the requested documents below and I hope you're satisfied with what I've given. 

Your soulmate will be someone warm who may not always be around you, or even someone you can easily see, though they will light a fire within you. Communication may be difficult at first, but with time it will become easier and you two will fulfill each other-' It has cut off halfway through and she looked up at him for an explanation. 

"It's not important." He waved it away. " _They just said general shit. It's not worth reading._ " She understood and carried on reading, buying his story as he sighed silently in relief. He didn't need her to know that the entire thing described her down to a T.

'You will meet your soulmate soon through a shared friend/acquaintance. Keep a look out for anyone new that comes into your life.'

"Oh... Wow." 

"Yeah?"

"That's fucking weird," she said, passing his phone back to him. "We need to tell Ten and then see what we can do afterwards about it. But, Woo?"

He looked at her curiously.

"A fortune teller?"

The flush on his cheeks darkened and he offered a lopsided simper. "I was bored."

"I'm not judging. It's cute."

"Really?"

"Mhm." She turned off her own phone and reached over him to put it on the side table. "We can tell him tomorrow, he's probably asleep."

Jungwoo agreed. It was absurdly late and Ten would likely cuss him out for waking him up, though now he was stuck on where to go. He didn't fancy going back outside to head back to the dorm. 

"How did you get here?"

"Taxi."

"Wow-" she moved further along the bed, leaving more room. "You can sleep here then. It's too much hassle to get a taxi back."

"...Are you sure?"

"100%." Her smile made him feel at ease, even more so when she pulled the covers over him and patted it down - preventing any drafts. "I'm sure you've shared a bed with Ten before."

"You're not Ten."

"His body though."

Jungwoo didn't say another word despite the syllables that lay on his tongue. "I wish it wasn't," he longed to say, though thought against. 

Now that there was nothing to distract him, he couldn't help but fiddle with his fingers. Usually he slept with a plushie to his chest, though there wasn't any on the bed. Likely Kunhang had decided to hog them.

More time ticked by where he lay there doing nothing before finally, he sighed and spoke with an audible pout. "I can't sleep."

"Any reason?"

"I-uh... _I normally sleep with a plush but there's not any here._ "

There was a few seconds pause. " _Do you want to hug?_ "

" _Hug?_ "

" _Yes, like,_ cuddle?"

He nodded eagerly, shuffling closer as he put one arm over her waist, his legs intertwining with hers as he hummed contently. She wasn't complaining and he definitely wasn't either. 

And even if it wasn't her body that was in his hold at this moment, it was still her that whispered 'good night'; it was her who ran her fingers along his hands - drawing little stars on his skin; it was her that made warmth bloom in his chest, growing flowers that were nurtured by her warmth.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually paid for this shit," Ten laughed and Jungwoo groaned, itching to throw a pillow at his head to get him to shut up. Every 5 minutes he would pipe up with the same comment and laugh his head off, and quite honestly, Jungwoo didn't think it was that hilarious. 

" _God okay, Hyung, I get it. I was just bored, alright? I thought it would be fun to see what the results would be._ " There was no use in trying to defend himself from Ten's ruthless teasing. It was like gulping down water after eating a ghost pepper; the sentiment was there though it would ultimately do nothing. 

He looked at her for help, though she was giggling with Ten too. What a traitor.

"Ten, you write the email. You're the most persuasive out of us three," she said and Ten gave her a dry look. "I also don't know how to write in korean well."

She had him cornered and they both knew it, finally giving Jungwoo his chance to laugh at him (even if he quickly closed his mouth when Ten gave him the side eye). 

"Fine, whatever. I do everything in this house anyway." Cracking his fingers and rolling his shoulders, he flexed his thumbs as he began to write an email to the fortune teller on Jungwoo's phone. "I'll read it out and you guys tell me if I should change anything."

"Got it!" 

"One second-" Ten read over what he wrote before speaking. " _Hi Fortune teller, I hope you're doing well and resting easy. I have a question about the soulmate package I bought a year or so ago. I loved it a lot_ -"

" _Do you need to say loved? That makes me sound eager._ "

" _You were eager._ " She shut him down quickly and Ten mimed for him to be quiet. 

" _But I think it caused a few problems. Is there anytime I can and see you in person for help?_ " Ten continued before hitting send after getting their approval. "Now we wait." 

Jungwoo instantly wished that he had left the room instead - no way was Ten going to let him live. " _So... Jungwoo-yah, what did the soulmate description say?_ "

Mirroring Ten’s shit eating smile, he refused to let him get under his skin. “ _It was just general,_ ” he said, 

“ _I’m desperate, I’ll be willing to pay 100k for your time-_ ” Jungwoo’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he lunged for his phone.

“ _100k?! Hyung you’re crazy._ ”

Ten jumped away with ease, holding the phone away from him as he hit send. “ _You got us into this situation, you’re paying for us to get out._ ”

He slumped in place and crossed his arms, though there was hardly anything he could do about it now. “Fine, okay. _They better reply quickly._ ”

“This is the longest we’ve ever been swapped for,” she huffed, flopping down across the floor, “I miss my own body.”

“Likewise.”

They did nothing like the first time, simply rolling around or playing games on their phones before Jungwoo’s phone pinged with the promise of a returned reply.

" _They replied!_ "

"Read it!" She ran over, sitting beside him to look over his shoulder.

" _They said 'in that case, I am free today at 3pm. Please send the money to my account and I'll meet you at' this place,_ " he read out before showing them the address. A quick search showed that it was a small antique shop just off one of Seoul's many high streets. " _I'll send the money now and we can get ready to go._ "

"Thank fuck, I can barely wait, just remind me to take that backpack."

* * *

When they entered the shop, the first thing they saw were many rows of trinkets and crystals. It had an interesting vibe to it, one that made you want to look around for a while.

" _Hello! How may I help you all today?_ " The sound of a voice made their heads turn, a tall and warm faced person greeted them. 

Ten took the initiative, piping up before Jungwoo could even process his thoughts. " _My friend bought one of your soulmate readings a while ago and ever since then, me and her-_ " he gestured to his own body, " _have been swapping continuously._ "

" _That's quite the situation,_ " they said, looking from between her and Ten. " _So these two are the ones who have been affected by the soulmate request?_ "

" _Yes. They swapped after I got the reading from you. Is there any way to get it to stop?_ ' Jungwoo was on the verge of begging. 

They hummed before nodding, gesturing for them to follow. The trio wove through the different trinkets and stands to the back where there was a miniature office and kitchen. It smelt strongly of incense and lavender - supposedly calming through they were all too anxious to feel any sort of relief. 

" _I've had this happen once before, though it's very rare. Soulmates tend to appear naturally but if the lifestyle of one of them doesn't allow for that, the body swapping happens. It's an easy fix, really._ " Cupboards were opened and different jars were placed onto the counter with a clink. " _You two just need to drink this and wait thirty minutes, you'll change back permanently. It tastes pretty awful by itself, so I'll mix it with other things. Do you have any allergies?_ "

" _No, though maybe not milk if possible,_ " She answered for them. 

" _Got it._ "

Different things were thrown into a blender, and, much to Ten's horror, fruit as well. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries were blended up into a horrifying mix that made Ten's hackles rise and fingers tighten on the straps of the bag. Now he was definitely wishing he spoke up. 

He looked in panic at the other two, though they seemed to be more preoccupied with looking at the decor. What circle of hell was this?

The drink was poured into two separate cups and given to them, the teller smiling happily. " _There you go._ "

" _Uh, do I have to drink this?_ " Ten grimaced, looking at the drink with clear displeasure. Maybe staying in someone else's body wouldn't be so bad after a-

His foot jolted and he stumbled - realising she had knocked his foot. "Ten, I swear to god, drink that shit now. I'll buy you however many mints you want, just plug your nose and swallow it down." 

"But it's fruit."

" _Yah! Hyung just drink it!_ " Jungwoo said and he aggressively sucked in air through his teeth. Never in his life had he been subjected to such torture. 

"You owe me another 100k for this shit, Jungwoo." 

" _Wha-_ "

Grabbing the glass, he shut his eyes tightly and held his nose before he drank the entire thing, forcing himself to ignore the fruity taste to think of the bigger picture. He only just managed to stifle the urge to scream as he put the empty cup down again, thanking the teller inaudibly as they passed him water. 

"You're so dramatic, it doesn't even taste bad."

"I hate fruits."

"Weird, you're fruity as hell."

"Funny. Hurry up and finish it."

"Yes boss."

Downing the rest of the drink, the teller gave them a thumbs up. " _From now, it will be exactly thirty minutes until you change back._ I don't think you'll need to come back, but if you do, I'll give you another dose."

" _That's fine, thank you._ " 

They all headed out of the shop and onto the street, looking around. "Are there any parks? We can stay there for thirty minutes."

"There's one just down here," Ten said, adjusting the bag on his back and leading them to a gate not too far away that detailed an open botanical garden. 

Jungwoo had to admit, it was a rather nice area and he didn't mind having to stand around with these two so long as they didn't try to gang up on him too much.

Thought, of course as soon as they had settled, a stone was thrown through their glass window. 

Her phone lit up with a text and she looked confused. "Kun's asking if I can go back, he's saying something about a relay cam?" She said and Ten groaned. 

"I forgot about that. I need to film that today, but I don't know how to like this."

"I can go back to the dorm? If we swap back, then you'll be home. If not, then you guys can just come back too."

It wasn't the best idea, though it wasn't the worst. "That sounds pretty good."

"Okay, I'll just get a taxi and go there now, I'll see you later." She waved them goodbye and walked away, leaving both Ten and Jungwoo to mess around in the park. 

The timer continued to count down, ticking continuously as Ten chased the ducks around, pausing only to look at his phone. 

" _She said she's back at my dorm._ "

" _Okay, there's only 2 minutes left._ "

Those two minutes seemed to drag, though Ten barely cared as he made his way to a pigeon, reaching out to grab it and narrowly missing. Jungwoo was tempted to join, though decided against it when he saw there was only 10 seconds left.

They finished within the blink of an eye. 

" _Have you swapped back now?_ " Jungwoo asked carefully, looking up from the timer that had gone off on his phone. His eyes ran over her face, _her_ face, and he admired every little detail. 

" _I did,_ " she beamed, delighted at the outcome before she pulled off the bag on her shoulders and looked inside. "Oh, he didn't forget!"

"Forget what?"

"These!" A bouquet was pulled out, gardenias and orchids wrapped in delicate blossom pink cellophane. "I asked him to buy these."

"They're beautiful," Jungwoo said, admiring the soft colours that bled into one another, the fresh smell of flowers welcomed after the onslaught of incense. "Did he buy it for you?"

At his question, she shook her head, fingers tightening around the bundle of flowers. For the first time ever, he had seen her look a little nervous, a small smile on her cheeks. "No, actually. They're for you."

"Me?" Nodding, she passed them over to him and he felt warmth creep up his cheeks and neck, his smile growing impossibly wide - enough to make his face ache. Suddenly, he felt incredibly bashful, distracting himself by running his fingers over the delicate petals. "Thank you! I love it so much."

"And I had something else to ask you." She inhaled nervously, before meeting his eyes with a steady resolve. "Do you want to go out sometime? As... Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

If he was flustered before, he was bordering on functionless now. He knew his cheeks were coated in a heavy blush, though he was filled with delight. 

"Yes!" He said a little loudly, "I want to go out with you."

"God, I'm so happy you said yes. I would have died from embarrassment if you didn't," she laughed and he reached out, brushing his fingers over her skin before leaning in a little - catching her off guard.

"Can I kiss you?"

She didn't say anything, instead choosing to nod and he closed the gap, kissing her softly while his insides buzzed. He chose to let her pull away, both of them becoming shy until their fingers laced together, the cellophane crinkling as he held it tightly to his chest. 

Even though he has fallen for her in someone else's body, she was still immeasurably beautiful to him. 

" _Let's go on a proper date now, in your body._ "


End file.
